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Chael Sonnen confirms light heavyweight return and next opponent

Submitted by Fred Richani on Wed, 08/15/2012 - 02:37

Rematch against former UFC champ. 

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Former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen (27-12-1) confirmed on FUEL TV's UFC Tonight that he will return to the light heavyweight division to face former champion Forrest Griffin (19-7) on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas, NV.

The fight is actually a rematch from an IFC card in 2003--one which saw Griffin submit Sonnen via triangle choke in the first round.

Both fighters headlined heavily-hyped and successful UFC 148 PPV on July 7, but each saw opposite results, as Griffin edged out Tito Ortiz via a controversial unanimous decision, while Sonnen lost via second-round TKO to middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

The year-end UFC pay-per-view is headlined by Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II for the heavyweight championship. 

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