Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully planned for UFC 86

Originally posted by Dann Stupp on Jun 02, 2008 at 3:39 pm ET

Former top UFC heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will likely return from the first back-to-back losses of his career when he meets Justin McCully (8-3-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC 86.

Sources close to both fighters tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the heavyweights recently accepted the bout and that it should be finalized shortly. The fight was first reported by our official radio partner, TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com).

UFC 86 takes place July 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and airs live on pay per view.

Gonzaga, who began his UFC career with a 4-0 record, hasn't fought since a January second-round TKO loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80. The televised bout was a rematch from their September 2003 meeting at Jungle Fight 1 in Brazil. Werdum TKO'd Gonzaga in that event, as well.

Prior to the loss, Gonzaga fought at UFC 74 in August 2007 and suffered a third-round TKO to UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

McCully, meanwhile, will return to action for the first time since his April 2007 unanimous-decision victory over Antoni Hardonk. McCully, part of Tito Ortiz's Team Punishment, had been a rumored opponent for Frank Mir, but the bout was apparently scrapped when the former champ was selected to coach opposite current champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the upcoming eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

For the latest rumored UFC 86 fight card, which features a main event and title fight between "TUF7" coaches Quinton Jackson and challenger Forrest Griffin, check out the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.