Undefeated heavyweight Brett Rogers (8-0) has agreed to meet Affliction fighter Paul Buentello (26-10) at EliteXC's Nov. 8 show.
The event, "EliteXC: A Night of Champions," takes place at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev., and airs on Showtime.
MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) learned of the fight from a source close to Buentello, and fiveouncesofpain.com today earlier confirmed the fight with Rogers’ trainer, Mike Reilly of Team Bison in St. Paul, Minn.
According to the report, bout agreements should be signed this week.
The fight will air on the night's televised main card.
Rogers, one of EliteXC's top heavyweight prospects, last competed in May at "EliteXC: PRIMETIME," MMA's first-ever network-televised event. Facing Jon Murphy on the CBS-televised card, Rogers secured a 61-second TKO. It was his eighth straight victory via first-round stoppage -- all of which have come via strikes.
Rogers will look to go for his ningth straight win against Buentello, who went 3-1 in the UFC from 2005-2006 before signing with Strikeforce and later Affliction. Buentello, who's won five of his past six fights, rebounded from a loss to Alistair Overeem in November 2007 (for the vacant Strikeforce world heavyweight title) and defeated Gary Goodridge at "Affliction: Banned" in July.
Buentello had been scheduled to fight Roy Nelson at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" this month, but the event was recently postponed and is expected to take place Jan. 24. Like they've done with other fighters, Affliction executives permitted Buentello to compete outside of the organization in the meantime.
"EliteXC: A Night of Champions" features title fights between middleweight champion Robbbie Lawler and Joey Villasenor, as well as Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez for the organization's lightweight title that was recently vacated by K.J. Noons.
The latest card includes:
Champ Robbie Lawler vs. Joe Villasenor (for EliteXC middleweight title)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Nick Diaz (for vacant EliteXC lightweight title)
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. TBA
Paul Buentello vs. Brett Rogers
Hector Lombard vs. Scott Smith
Kaitlin Young vs. Sarah Kaufman
