Upon learning his original opponent is unable to fight due to legal issues, six-time WWE champion David Bautista will now face Arizona veteran Vince Lucero on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center, in Providence, R.I.
Bautista was originally scheduled to face Newburgh, N.Y., newcomer Rashid Evans. Instead, he will fight the 6-foot-2 Lucero (22-21), boasts a stacked resume that includes bouts against former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, former UFC heavyweight contenders Justin Eilers, Homer Moore and Christian Wellisch, Strikeforce veteran Ruben Villareal, and former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) contender Jimmy Ambriz.
Tickets can be purchased at http://www.cesmma.com or http://www.ticketmaster.com. The show will also air live on DirecTV Pay Per View for $29.95 ($39.95 in high definition) – available now – beginning at 8 p.m., or through Livestream via http://www.bautistamma.com in high definition.
Bautista, 43, is also the star of the motion picture The Man With The Iron Fists, which will be released in theaters worldwide on Nov. 2, and is currently training at his Gracie Fighter Jiu-Jitsu facility in Tampa, which he opened to the public in 2011, with Matheus Andre, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and Josh Rafferty, a contestant on the debut season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. Real Pain features 14 bouts, including four former Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) contenders – John Doomsday Howard of Boston; Marc Stevens of Lorraine, N.Y.; Chad Reiner of Omaha, Neb.; and Montreal native David Loiseau, who fought for the UFC middleweight title in 2006.
