Following up on a previously reported rumor, The Ultimate Fighter, Season 7 finalist Jesse Taylor will make his UFC debut against C.B. Dollaway at Ultimate Fight Night 14 on July 19th. Also, read on to find out who will headline the next UFC card in the U.K., as well as former middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin’s alleged move to the light heavyweight division.

Jesse Taylor to Return from Sabbatical Set to Face C.B. Dollaway

As has been well documented and criticized, Taylor holds the distinction of being the first series finalist to be removed from the promotion. UFC President Dana White added a caveat for Taylor, telling him to ”get [his] sh*t together” and get in contact w/the UFC after a few months away so as to assess his ability to cope with the stardom.

White recently made comments to Yahoo!Sports.com regarding the decision to reinstate Taylor:

"…. Without a doubt, the kid deserves another chance. He made himself look like a fool, and he’s aware of that, but everyone deserves another opportunity and we’re going to give it to him. He acted like a moron. He’s embarrassed by it, which he should be, but what he did doesn’t amount to enough to ban him forever."

Dollaway, on the other hand, had to fight his way into the season’s finale twice after Taylor was kicked off the show. Strangely enough, he lost to eventual winner Amir Sadollah both times due to an armbar submission.

UFC 89 to be held in Birmingham, U.K. Leben and Bisping to Headline

For the first time in the promotion’s history, the UFC will go to Birmingham, England for UFC 89 scheduled for October 18th. Tickets for UFC Fight Club members went on sale today, with UFC Newsletter subscribers getting their first crack on July 4th. General ticket sales will begin on Sunday July 6th.

The main event will feature two The Ultimate Fighter mainstays, as season 3 winner Michael Bisping will face season 1 veteran Chris Leben.

The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 85: Bedlam in early June. However, Leben’s arrest and jail time did not allow for the match to happen.

Bisping is comfortable fighting in his native England. This is the third time for him to do so, as previous events had him fighting Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70 in Manchester and Matt Hamill at UFC 75 in London. This will be his third fight in six months, with the previous matches being against Charles McCarthy at UFC 83, followed by Jason Day at UFC 85 despite Leben being scratched from the card.

No additional fights have been confirmed for the event.

Franklin to move up to Light Heavyweight Against Hamill for UFC 88?

Rich Franklin has gone on the record to state that he feels a third fight against Anderson Silva would be a moot point. Truth be told, it’s hard to find someone who disagrees.

Taking that point into consideration, Franklin is rumored to make the jump to light heavyweight and take on Matt Hamill for UFC 88 in Atlanta on September 6th.

The former middleweight champion’s previous experience at the weight class bore the fruit of victory as he crushed Ken Shamrock in 2005. The win propelled his status as a popular fighter within the UFC.

Matt Hamill’s career after his experience on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter has overall been seen as a good, with the exception being a highly-controversial decision loss to the aforementioned Bisping. He most recently saw action at Ultimate Fight Night 13 where he TKO’d Tim Boetsch.