“The White Mike Tyson” John Phillips has been wreaking havoc on the UK scene ever since 2005, and now it seems he has received the news he’s always wanted. The Welshman has amassed a record of 20-6 since starting MMA, and is still only 31-years-old.
The news has not officially been confirmed by the UFC yet, but Ricky Wright, a MC well known across the UK, seems to think he has signed for the promotion.
Looks like John Phillips’ phone has rang, it’s being reported that he’s fighting on January 28th in Denver v Marcos Rogerio Lima at 205.
— Ricky Wright (@MC_Ricky_Wright) December 20, 2016
Phillips (20-6) is undefeated in his past four bouts, with four stoppage victories. After being out of action for two years, Phillips returned at Rage in the Cage 3, and stopped Charlie Ward in the second round. Solidifying his nickname as “The White Mike Tyson”, Phillips picked up another stoppage victory on the same night, this time over Markus Di Gallio. Then, at BAMMA 24, Phillips notched one of his biggest wins to date, capturing the BAMMA Middleweight Championship with a dominant first round knockout victory over Cheick Kone. The Welshman was scheduled to defend the title for the first time at BAMMA 26 against Andy DeVent, but after missing weight by 13lbs, the fight was scrapped and he was stripped of his title. In his most recent outing, Phillips stopped Otavio Lacerda via TKO in the first round at Budo Fighting Championship 16.
Lima (14-4-1) debuted in the UFC coming off a draw in a middleweight bout against Ben Reiter, but made his promotional debut at heavyweight, where he stopped Richardson Moreira in 20-seconds. Lima’s next fight came against Igor Pokrajac, and he stopped the Croatian in just under two minutes. Lima’s next bout ended in his first UFC defeat, as he was submitted by Nikita Krylov in the first round of their bout. The Brazilian rebounded from the loss with an impressive first round submission victory over Clint Hester at UFC 197. In his most recent outing, Lima was submitted by Gadzhimurad Antigulov in the first round of their bout at UFC Sao Paulo.
UFC on FOX 23 takes place live from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on January 28, 2017. The card is set to be headlined by a women’s bantamweight scrap between Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena.
