Schafer-Rivera, Brown-Rocha, Jimmo-Vemola Set for UFC on FX 1

Middleweights Eric Schafer and Jorge Rivera will square off at the Jan. 20 event, as will former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Mike Thomas Brown and featherweight debutant Vagner Rocha. The event will also feature the UFC debut of Maximum Fighting Championship 205-pound titleholder Ryan Jimmo (Pictured), who will meet Karlos Vemola at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Additionally, the promotion confirmed a previously reported lightweight matchup between Rafaello Oliveira and debuting Swede Reza Madadi.

Known as “Red,” 34-year-old Schafer was decisively bested in his UFC middleweight debut on Oct. 8, as Aaron Simpson used superior boxing and takedown defense to turn away the submission specialist at UFC 136. An eight-time UFC veteran, Schafer has posted a 3-5 Octagon record since making his promotional debut in 2006.

Rivera rides a two-fight skid into his showdown with Schafer. Prior to suffering defeats at the hands of Michael Bisping and Constantinos Philippou in 2011, “El Conquistador” had won three straight, outpointing Nissen Osterneck before knocking out Rob Kimmons and Nate Quarry.

Formerly the world’s top featherweight, Brown rebounded from back-to-back defeats by outpointing Nam Phan at UFC 133 on Aug. 6. The win marked the first UFC victory for the onetime WEC champion, as he dropped bouts to Diego Nunes and Rani Yahya in his first two Octagon appearances.

After losing a one-sided decision to Donald Cerrone in June, Rocha evened his UFC record in his most recent outing, dragging Cody McKenzie to the mat and submitting him with a second-round rear-naked choke. Rocha, 29, owns five of his seven career wins by submission.

Jimmo, 30, has not lost since his professional debut in 2007. Known for his tactical approach in the ring, the karate stylist owns eight of his 16 career wins by knockout or submission but has gone the distance in six of his last seven fights. The “Big Deal” last competed on Oct. 7, outpointing Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in a razor-thin unanimous decision.

Representing London Shootfighters, Vemola racked up seven straight wins as a heavyweight to start his career before losing a decision to wrestler Jon Madsen in his UFC debut in 2010. Though the powerful Czech resurfaced at 205-pounds four months later, pounding out Seth Petruzelli at UFC 122, he would again stumble in his most recent outing, losing a unanimous decision to Ronny Markes on Aug. 14.