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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief In a fight featuring two fighters with a lot to prove, UFC 98 builds it's undercard with Phillipe Nover taking on Kyle Bradley. MMAJunkie.com first reported the bout. Nover was the much hyped wunderkind on the eighth season of the Ultimate Fighter, impressively submitting his way to the finale in a fashion that garnered him comparisons to GSP and Anderson Silva. He ultimately came up short, however, as he had no answer for Efrain Escudero's wrestling and control leading to him losing the finale fight by decision. Now he gets a chance to build his own legacy in the sport with no Ultimate Fighter label attached to him, and it begins on May 23rd at UFC 98 against Kyle Bradley.
Bradley, after two losses in his two Octagon appearances, is going to need a win to stay employed by the UFC. His two UFC fights have come against Chris Lytle and Joe Lauzon, and both ended by way of tko. This will be his first fight since the September loss to Lauzon.
UFC 98 is set to air live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23rd.
Penick's Analysis: Nover's going to have to prove that he was worth the hype he received coming into the Ultimate Finale against Escudero. He was outclassed in wrestling and takedowns in that fight and it was the difference. He showed a lot of promise on The Ultimate Fighter to garner the praise that he did, but in being unable to follow it with a victory he's going to start at the bottom. I think this will be the last fight for Kyle Bradley for some time, as I think Nover will make a successful non-TUF debut, and he'll need to string some wins together outside of the organization before he gets himself back into the Octagon.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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