May 15 UFC on Fuel TV Card Gets Carlo Prater vs. TJ Grant

TJ Grant (UFC)

Lightweights will meet in Fairfax, Va.

Veteran fighter Carlo Prater will look to build on a controversial victory in his long-awaited UFC debut when he meets TJ Grant in May.

Prater and Grant will fight on the UFC’s return to Fairfax, Va., for UFC on Fuel TV 3. UFC officials recently announced the fight, which is expected to be a part of the preliminary card for the May 15 event at the Patriot Center.

Prater (30-10-1, 1-0 UFC) debuted with the UFC in January at UFC 142 in Brazil, and it was an interesting and controversial start to his career with the promotion. After being dropped with a knee and rushed by Erick Silva, it appeared that Prater had been finished by ground-and-pound when referee Mario Yamasaki waved the fight off. But rather than stopping it for a TKO win for Silva, Yamasaki was stopping it for a disqualification, saying he warned Silva for strikes to the back of Prater’s head that didn’t stop. The official time came just 29 seconds into the fight, which was ruled a DQ win for Prater.

Prior to signing with the UFC, Prater had a four-fight winning streak, including one for Strikeforce. Prater also fought for the WEC’s welterweight title against Carlos Condit in February 2008, losing by guillotine choke.

Grant (17-5, 4-3 UFC) is coming off a submission win over Shane Roller at the final UFC on Versus event in October. Grant, a Canadian, started his career 13-2 before signing with the UFC. But after a debut win over Ryo Chonan at UFC 97, Grant has yet to be able to put together a winning streak with the promotion.

UFC on Fuel 3 will take place at the Patriot Center in Fairfax. It will be the UFC’s second visit to that venue, which is located just outside Washington, D.C. UFC Fight Night 20 also took place there in January 2010. The card is expected to be headlined by a featherweight contenders bout between Dustin Poirier and “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung.