England gets UFC 138 in November, fall fight schedule is sick

Did you enjoy the slight lull in the fight schedule during July? Don't get used to it. With the news that UFC 138 was just added to the Zuffa schedule, the fall shapes up as the busiest slate in fighting history.

Gareth A. Davies from The Telegraph broke the story that Chris Leben and Mark Munoz will square off in the main event in Birmingham, England on Nov. 5 at LG Arena.

Marshall Zelaznik, UFC UK vice-president, told The Telegraph yesterday: "I'm very happy to announce UFC 138 will be bringing fireworks to Birmingham on November 5.� The last time the UFC was in the second city was UFC 89 in October 2008, and we are very happy to be going back there this bonfire night."

Bloody Elbow also pointed out that Leben vs. Munoz will be the first non-title five round main event. The UFC announced last month that all main events were going to be five rounds.

Davies says no other British fighters have been finalized for the card yet, but he did suggest Brad Pickett (No. 9 in the USA Today/Bloody Elbow MMA rankings) could face Urijah Faber (No. 4) or Miguel Torres (No. 7).

Update: MMAjunkie reports that Pickett has a fight at UFC 138 against Renan Barao. Barao debuted at UFC 130 with a win over Cole Escovedo.

If you like watching MMA events in person then put together a healthy travel budget because starting with Strikeforce 36 on Sept. 10 there is a Zuffa MMA card 9-of-13 weeks. That may turn into 10-of-14 if a card rumored for Dec. 10 lands in Montreal.

There's are also some great boxing matches that'll fill two of the off weeks. Bernard Hopkins battles Chad Dawson on Oct. 15 and Manny Pacquiao returns on Nov. 12 to face Juan Manuel Marquez. The UFC goes head-to-head against Floyd Mayweather on Sept. 17 and the Showtime Super Six Final with Andre Ward against Carl Froch on Oct. 29.

Fall fight schedule:

9/17 - UFN 23 in New Orleans (Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz)

9/24 - UFC 135 in Denver

10/1 - UFC on Versus 6 in Washington D.C.

10/8 - UFC 136 in Houston

10/15 - BOXING: Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson in A.C.

10/29 - UFC 137 in Las Vegas (Andre Ward vs. Carl Froch)

11/5 - UFC 138 on Spike in Birmingham, U.K.

11/12 - Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas

11/19 - UFC 139 in San Jose

12/3 - The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale in Las Vegas

12/10 - UFC 140 rumored for Montreal

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