Rothwell-Gormley Moved to UFC

Ben Rothwell and Chase Gormley will make their Octagon debuts in a heavyweight bout at UFC 104 on Oct. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The matchup had originally been scheduled to take place at Affliction “Trilogy” on Aug. 1. However, Affliction Entertainment cancelled its anticipated third event 10 days out, after main event fighter Josh Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid in a pre-fight test.

Rothwell (30-6) rebounded from a third-round knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski at Affliction 1 in July 2008 to submit Chris Guillen with elbows in the first round at Adrenaline MMA 2 last December. An IFL standout, the Wisconsin native has won 16 out of 18 bouts since 2004, including victories over Roy Nelson, Ricco Rodriguez, and Krzysztof Soszynski.

The 25-year-old Gormley was an NAIA All-American Wrestler for Lindenwood University. Gormley (6-0) earned a unanimous decision against former super heavyweight Eric Pele at MFC 16 in June 2008.

Greg Savage contributed to this report.