Easton to face Menjivar at UFC 148

Mike Easton has been selected to face Ivan Menjivar in a bantamweight bout at UFC 148 on July 7 in Las Vegas.

Menjivar was originally slated to square off with Renan Barao, but Barao was announced Friday night as Urijah Faber's opponent in the bantamweight interim title fight which will serve as the co-main event of UFC 148. Faber was supposed to face bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz that night, but an injury during training forced Cruz to the sideline. Cruz and Faber are serving as coaches in the current season of The Ultimate Fighter on FX.

"Easton is one of the bantamweight division's rising contenders who's now going after the biggest win of his career, but he has to get past the incredibly dynamic and much more experienced Menjivar," UFC president Dana White said. "Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout."

Easton is coming off a Jan. 20 decision win over Jared Papazian at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. He's won seven straight bouts and is 12-1 in his career.

Menjivar has won his first three UFC bouts and is 24–8 overall. His last fight was a submission win over John Albert at UFC on FUEL TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger.