MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Heath Herring has agreed to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 on Aug. 9 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its debut in Minneapolis, Minn.
Lesnar was originally slated to face UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in the main event of UFC 87. Coleman, however, suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in training, which will sideline him for at least six weeks. He was forced to withdraw from the bout with Lesnar due to the injury.
Herring has been on a roller coaster ride since his UFC debut in January of 2007. The former Pride heavyweight title contender has gone 2-2 in the Octagon, most recently defeating Cheick Kongo at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio.
Lesnar had a less than stellar Octagon debut, losing to former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir via kneebar at UFC 81 in Las Vegas earlier this year.
With the withdrawal of Coleman, the UFC acted swiftly, signing a new main event bout with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, fresh off winning the title at UFC 82, making the first defense of his second reign as champion when he faces No. 1 contender Jon Fitch.
Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian will also square off at UFC 87. The bout, according to the promotion’s president, Dana White, will likely decide the next contender to the UFC lightweight title being contested on Saturday night at UFC 84 between current champion B.J. Penn and former champion Sean Sherk.
