May 15, 2012 – Of note for tonight’s UFC on FUEL TV 3 preliminary broadcast is the return of two adopted Texan fighters in Carlo Prater and Kamal Shalorus. The two will be part of the undercard broadcast to be streamed LIVE via the UFC on Facebook prior the main card to be broadcast on the FUEL network.
Carlo Prater aims for fifth win in a row
A longtime former resident of Houston and protégé of notable area trainer Saul Soliz, 30 year old Carlo (30-10-1) will be making his way back to the octagon for the first time since his debut this past January at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro. That outing resulted in a bit of controversy with some illegal strikes resulting in a disqualification victory over Erick Silva for Prater in that bout he took on short notice in a higher weight class. Needless to say, he’ll be looking for a lot cleaner result this time around with a full fight camp behind him while fighting back at lightweight.
This time around, “Neo” will be taking on a formidable opponent in another former welterweight, T.J. Grant (17-5). This fighter recently made his own drop to 155 lbs. a successful one when he beat Texas• based Shane Roller this past October. A UFC vet since April 2009, Grant has fought seven times already for the promotion but will be seeking his first two-fight UFC winning streak ever at the expense of the Brasilia native.
Carlo will be looking for his fifth win in a row in this one.
Kamal Shalorus fighting for UFC survival
Meanwhile, another Texas-based lightweight will also be looking for a win on the UFC on FUEL 3 undercard in the form of Austinite Kamal Shalorus (7- 2). The Iranian-born wrestler entered the UFC highly touted after the WEC merger as a fighter who went undefeated while fighting four times in that organization. So far he’s failed to find similar success in the UFC however with losses to Jim Miller and Khabib Nurmagomedov in his last two outings.
With three losses in a row being the unwritten signal for termination in the UFC, this fight tonight becomes a very strong important one for Kamal as he looks to avoid the UFC chopping block.
In order to avoid such a fate, he’ll have to get past Brazilian Rafael Dos Anjos (15-6). The Team Gordo Evolve trained lightweight will be looking to get past his own loss in his last bout against Gleison Tibau but does enter the bout winning three out of his last five, including a spectacular knockout of George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132 last July.
UFC on FUEL 3, also known as UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier, kicks off from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA at 4:30PM CST today with the Prelims on Facebook while the main card kicks off on FUEL at 7PM.
Main Card (Fuel TV)
• Chan Sung Jung (12-3) vs. Dustin Poirier (12-1)
• Amir Sadollah (5-3) vs. Jorge Lopez (11-2)
• Donald Cerrone (17-4) vs. Jeremy Stephens (20-7)
• Yves Jabouin (17-7) vs. Jeff Hougland (10-4)
• Igor Pokrajac (24-8) vs. Fabio Maldonado (18-4)
• Jason MacDonald (25-15) vs. Tom Lawlor (7-4)
Preliminary Bouts (Facebook)
• Brad Tavares (7-1)vs. Dongi Yang (10-2)
• Codie McKenzie (12-2) vs. Marcus LeVesseur (21-5)
• TJ Grant (17-5) vs. Carlo Prater (30-10)
• Rafael Dos Anjos (15-6) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-2)
• Jeff Curran (33-14) vs. Johnny Eduardo (25-9)
• Alex Soto (6-1) vs. Francisco Rivera (7-2)