Desert Force Lightweight Champion Haider Rasheed will put his grappling chops to the test at the Copa Podio grand prix tournament in Rio on May 10.
Originally set to fight Igor Gracie, Haider will now be facing UFC Lightweight Castillo who has agreed to replace injured Igor in a submission-only no-gi match.
According to mmafighting.com:
Igor Gracie has suffered a knee injury two weeks ago, and Castillo who is fresh off a vicious second-round knockout over Charlie Brenneman at UFC 172, accepted the challenge.
“It’s a no-gi challenge with no time limit that we created exclusively for MMA fighters,” Copa Podio president Jeferson Mayca, said. “MMA fighters always complained that the preparation with the gi was a problem since they are always training for MMA fights, so now it’s a no-gi challenge.”
Rasheed will face Castillo, a brown belt in jiu-jitsu who competes at the 155-pound division in the UFC, in a 176-pound limit unique and historical matchup! No Time Limit! Only submission!
The event will be broadcast in HD, with both pay-per-view access and tickets available for purchase online only, through the official event website: www.copapodio.com.
