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David Heath to Replace Griffin against Machida at UFC 70
Unbeaten light heavyweight David Heath has stepped up to the plate to face fellow contender Lyoto Machida at UFC 70 after Forrest Griffin was forced to withdraw from the April 21st bout Wednesday due to a severe staph infection.
Attempts to place 205-pound contenders Keith Jardine and Jason Lambert in the bout against Machida were unsuccessful due to a shoulder injury suffered by Jardine, and the continuing recovery of Lambert after a grueling win over ‘Babalu’ Sobral on March 3rd’s UFC 68 card. So the call went to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Heath, who eagerly accepted the bout, which will take place at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England.
“He’s an aggressive striker, which I really like about him,” said Heath of Machida. “I think his style, mixed with mine, will make for a very exciting fight and I’m looking forward to fighting him.”
The 31-year old Heath is in his fourth year as a professional mixed martial artist. Known for his standup game (which is undoubtedly helped by his work with super middleweight boxing contender Allan 'Sweetness' Green), Heath nonetheless surprised the MMA world in his UFC debut last August when he submitted ground specialist Cory Walmsley at 2:32 of the first round at UFC 62. Heath’s standup was in evidence in his second Octagon appearance though, as he put on an entertaining three round bout with Canada’s Victor Valimaki en route to a hard fought split decision win.
Unbeaten light heavyweight David Heath has stepped up to the plate to face fellow contender Lyoto Machida at UFC 70 after Forrest Griffin was forced to withdraw from the April 21st bout Wednesday due to a severe staph infection.
Attempts to place 205-pound contenders Keith Jardine and Jason Lambert in the bout against Machida were unsuccessful due to a shoulder injury suffered by Jardine, and the continuing recovery of Lambert after a grueling win over ‘Babalu’ Sobral on March 3rd’s UFC 68 card. So the call went to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Heath, who eagerly accepted the bout, which will take place at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England.
“He’s an aggressive striker, which I really like about him,” said Heath of Machida. “I think his style, mixed with mine, will make for a very exciting fight and I’m looking forward to fighting him.”
The 31-year old Heath is in his fourth year as a professional mixed martial artist. Known for his standup game (which is undoubtedly helped by his work with super middleweight boxing contender Allan 'Sweetness' Green), Heath nonetheless surprised the MMA world in his UFC debut last August when he submitted ground specialist Cory Walmsley at 2:32 of the first round at UFC 62. Heath’s standup was in evidence in his second Octagon appearance though, as he put on an entertaining three round bout with Canada’s Victor Valimaki en route to a hard fought split decision win.
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