UFC on FOX Sports 1 1 gets Rua-Sonnen headliner, McDonald-Pickett, more

UFC President Dana White promised to put on a free card for the ages for the company’s first event on UFC on FOX Sports 1, and the company is making good on that commitment.

UFC officials today announced several additions to the UFC on FOX Sports 1 1 card, and the latest round of new bouts includes a headlier of light heavyweights Mauricio Rua (21-7 MMA, 5-5 UFC) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-13-1 MMA, 6-6 UFC), as well as bantamweights Michael McDonald (15-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) vs. Brad Pickett (23-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and light heavyweights Cody Donovan (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Ovince St. Preux (13-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

Coinciding with the launch of the new all-sports channel that will serve as the UFC’s new cable home, “UFC on FOX Sports 1 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen” takes place Aug. 17 at Boston’s TD Garden.

Rua was originally expected to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at next week’s UFC 161 event before injury forced “Little Nog” out of the event and left “Shogun” without an opponent. Sonnen then entered the picture and was expected to serve as an injury replacement but was unable to secure the necessary paperwork to fight in Canada, and the fight was delayed until the Boston card.

The 22-year-old McDonald remains one of the brightest prospects in the bantamweight division. He fights for the first time since a fourth-round submission loss to Barao in a failed bid for the UFC interim bantamweight belt. The result snapped an eight-fight win streak for the Californian. He now meets the always-exciting McDonald, who is 3-1 in his past four fights and is a four-time “Fight of the Night” winner during his time fighting for both the UFC and WEC.

“Donnybrook” Donovan fights for the second time under the UFC banner. He made his debut in spectacular “Fight of the Night” fashion this past December, where he earned a first-round TKO win over Nick Penner. He now meets St. Preux, who looks to move past a controversial technical-decision win over Gian Villante at April’s UFC 159 event, where an eyepoke halted the fight early.

The latest UFC on FOX Sports 1 1 card now includes:

• Mauricio Rua vs. Chael Sonnen
• Travis Browne vs. Alistair Overeem
• Yuri Alcantara vs. Urijah Faber
• Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett
• Thiago Alves vs. Matt Brown
• Michael Johnson vs. Joe Lauzon
• Conor McGregor vs. Andy Ogle
• Uriah Hall vs. Nick Ring
• Mike Brown vs. Akira Corassani
• Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux

For the latest on UFC on FOX Sports 1 1, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Chael Sonnen)