It was revealed to MMAHQ today, by sources close to the fight, that former WEC Champion Mike Thomas Brown has accepted an offer to fight Rani Yahya at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 on January 22nd.

Rani Yahya has posted a 4-3 record in the WEC and his bout with Chan Sung Jung was set to mark his debut in the UFC. The Korean Zombie, however, was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury as was revealed earlier today.

Mike Brown lost a close split decision to talented Diego Nunes just six days ago but was not one of the fighters who received a medical suspension following the event. It remains another tough task to the former WEC featherweight champion but he will have the benefit of still being in fight shape following his last outing.

Mike Brown fought in the UFC back in 2004 against Genki Sudo but it was his two defeats of WEC poster boy Urijah Faber, the first in 2008 stripping the long time champion of his belt, that drastically raised his profile within the mma community.

It’s sure to be a fast paced encounter and Brown will, undoubtedly, want to send a message to the rest of the division and build the foundations of great run of results with a good performance against a tough challenger.