Lincolnville native Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch will return to action Jan. 31, when he fights Brazilian Thales Leites in a battle of veteran middleweight contenders as part of the UFC 183 mixed martial arts card in Las Vegas.
The bout was announced Wednesday and is expected to be part of the event’s main card, which will be available on a pay-per-view basis.
The 33-year-old Boetsch — 18-7 and ranked 13th among Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights — is coming off a dramatic second-round stoppage via punches of Brad Tavares during UFC Fight Night 57 held Aug. 16 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
That win came in Boetsch’s first bout training under former UFC contender Marcus Davis at Davis’ Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer.
Davis said Thursday he and Boetsch will work together again to prepare for UFC 183.
“He’ll be coming up here sometime in November and stay until Christmas, and then he’ll go home to his family for Christmas and then come back and we’ll finish up camp until we head over to Vegas for the fight,” Davis said.
Davis expects the experience he and Boetsch had in preparing for the Tavares fight to aid in the Leites training camp.
“It will be much easier,” Davis said. “We knew each other really well to begin with, but as far as the flow of the camp and what’s expected, that’s all ironed out. So we’ll kind of be picking up where we left off, taking what Tim already does and making it faster, better, stronger and then implementing a few specifics for his opponent.”
Davis expects Boetsch to face another physical encounter against the 11th-ranked Leites, who is 24-4 overall and 9-3 in UFC matches, in part because of Boetsch’s own competitive strengths.
Davis doesn’t try to change Boetsch’s style.
“I’m not about that: I’m about embracing what he does that works and just making it better,” Davis said. “When Tim fights his fight, he’s going to get lumped up. But it’s always going to be the other guy who gets lumped up worse.”
Like Boetsch, Leites was released from his original tenure with the UFC in 2009, only to battle his way back into MMA’s top organization.
Since returning to the UFC is 2013, 33-year-old Leites has won four straight bouts to extend his overall winning streak to seven fights.
Boetsch, 9-6 in the UFC, has won two of his last three fights since back-to-back losses to 12th-ranked Costas Philippou and 14th-rated Mark Munoz.
He scored a controversial split-decision victory over 10th-ranked C.B. Dollaway in October 2013 at UFC 166 in Houston, then lost by first-round submission to fifth-ranked Luke Rockhold at UFC 172 in Baltimore last April.
Boetsch then scored a stunning come-from-behind technical knockout of the 15th-ranked Tavares in his homecoming bout in Maine last summer to earn his first career $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus from UFC president and Hermon High School graduate Dana White.
UFC 183 will be headlined by the return of former longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva in his first bout since suffering a broken leg during a loss to current middleweight title holder Chris Weidman at UFC 168 last December in Las Vegas.
Silva is scheduled to face former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz in his comeback bout.
‘NEF XV’ to feature 17 fights
New England Fights has announced a 17-fight card for its final show of the year, “NEF XV” on Nov. 15 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
Six professional bouts and 11 amateur contests are planned, with the opening bell set for 7 p.m.
The card will be headlined by Brewer’s Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington defending his NEF lightweight title against Jesse “The Viking” Erickson of Auburn.
The bout is a rematch of their battle for the vacant 155-pound crown in at NEF XIV in September, when Erickson used his ground skills to take early control only to have Boyington counter with his striking game in the second round to end the bout with a succession of jabs to the face.
Boyington enters the fight with an 8-7 record while Erickson is 3-3.
Boyington’s Young’s MMA teammate, “The” Ryan Sanders (6-6), will face Floridian Mark DeFord at a catchweight of 160 pounds, while other pro bouts have Brent Dillingham against Artie Mullen at 265 pounds, Jamie Harrison against Tollison Lewis at 159, Dover-Foxcroft’s Derek Shorey against Matt Denning at 140 and Elias Leland against Jimmy Alexander at 135 pounds.
The amateur portion of the card includes the return to the cage of Camden Hills of Rockport wrestling coach Pat Kelly. The 50-year-old Kelly, who won his MMA debut at NEF XIV, will take on Steven Bang (3-1) of Auburn in a 160-pound matchup.
Another amateur bout will feature a battle of former state high school wrestling champions when Dom Cofone (5-4) of Westbrook takes on Dixfield’s Caleb Hall (4-1) in a 150-pound contest.
Mladin Holman, a 54-year-old competitor from Choi Institute in Portland, will make his amateur MMA debut in a super heavyweight clash with Gravin Guillen.
