Sherk-Dunham Agreed for UFC 119

Evan Dunham and Sean Sherk have verbally agreed to face off in a lightweight contest at the yet-to-be-announced UFC 119 on Sept. 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Sherdog.com has learned from multiple sources.

The 28-year-old Dunham eked past Tyson Griffin with a split decision nod at UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The undefeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has collected four straight wins in the Octagon, including turns against “TUF 9” winner Efrain Escudero and Marcus Aurelio.

UFC 119 will mark Sherk’s return to the Octagon following a 16-month absence. The former UFC lightweight champion withdrew from a scheduled bout against Jim Miller at UFC 108 last January, after sustaining a forehead cut that required multiple stitches.

Prior to that, the 36-year-old Minnesotan was forced to pull out of a bout against Gleison Tibau at UFC 104 last October when he suffered a “Grade II AC separation” in his right shoulder while rolling with a training partner.

UFC 119 is tentatively slated to include a heavyweight bout between Joey Beltran and “Ultimate Fighter 10” veteran Matt Mitrione, and a lightweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Melvin Guillard.

The promotion has not yet announced a headlining bout for UFC 119.