Fresh off of his UFC win at the Target Center earlier this month, Minnesota's Marcus LeVesseur already has his next UFC foe lined up.

LeVesseur earned a split-decision win over Carlo Prater during UFC on FX 5. After starting his UFC career with a loss, the win kept LeVesseur's UFC career alive.

Now, he's getting his next shot.

LeVesseur confirmed via Facebook this week that his next UFC fight is set for Dec. 8. LeVesseur has stepped up as a replacement for the injured Rafaello Oliveira to face Michael Chiesa during UFC on Fox 5, which will take place at KeyArena in Seattle. The card's main event is a lightweight title fight between Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz.

The LeVesseur-Chiesa matchup is scheduled to be on the FUEL TV-televised prelims of the event.

Oliveira dropped off the card recently due to a broken hand. That opened the door for LeVesseur, who is 22-6 as a professional and is training at The Cellar.

Chiesa provides an interesting matchup for the Minnesota standout. He's a perfect 8-0 in his MMA career, including 1-0 in the UFC. He won the 15th season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

This will be Chiesa's first fight since winning the show. He submitted Al Iaguinta in the finals. On his way to the TUF finale, Chiesa knocked off Johnavan Vistante, Jeremy Larsen, Justin Lawrence and James Vick.

LeVesseur is most known for his wrestling credentials. He went undefeated on his way to four NCAA

Division III titles while wrestling at Augsburg College. LeVesseur is now the head high school wrestling coach at Hopkins.

***

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout Mike Richman will have his return to Bellator even earlier than expected.

It was initially reported that Richman would be in the Bellator 145-pound semifinals on Nov. 9 in Florida. Instead, Richman is back in Bellator on Nov. 2 in Canada.

Richman's return to the cage is less than a month after his devastating headkick knockout of Jeremy Spoon during the Bellator 145 quarterfinals on Oct. 12.

Bellator 79 takes places Nov. 2 at Rama, Ontario, Canada, at the Rama Casino.

Richman (13-1) will square off against Shahbulat Shamhalaev (10-1), while Wagnney Fabiano (15-3) will meet Rad Martinez (13-2) in the other semifinals matchup.

***

Fellow Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout Pat Barry has his next UFC fight lined up.

Barry will meet Shane Del Rosario during "The Ultimate Fighter 16" finale in Las Vegas on Dec. 15.

Barry is looking to get back on track. He's just 1-3 in his past four UFC fights.

Del Rosario is a Strikeforce veteran who lost his UFC debut in May, falling to Stipe Miocic at UFC 146.

Barry is 7-5 in his MMA career and 4-5 in the UFC, while Rosario is 11-1 overall and 0-1 in the UFC.

It's a critical fight for both competitors. Barry is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Lavar Johnson at UFC on Fox 3.

***

Travis "Diesel" Wiuff returns to action on Nov. 2 in Abu Dhabi.

Wiuff is competing as part of Abu Dhabi Warriors 1. He has stepped up on short notice to fill the spot of the injured Konstantin Gluhov of Latvia.

Wiuff (68-15) will square off against Maro Perak (21-3-1) at heavyweight. Perak is coming off a loss to Jeff Monson in April. Wiuff holds a win over Monson.

Wiuff is coming off a loss in the Bellator 205-pound tournament semifinals, where he fell to Attila Vegh by first-round stoppage.

"I see Maro as a tough opponent, but from watching his fights his style is nothing I haven't seen before in my 12 years of fighting," Wiuff said in an interview with the promotion. "The fans can expect an exciting fight. No matter where it goes, whether on the ground or standing, I think I have the advantage and can finish the fight."

Wiuff trains at the Mario Roberto Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rochester.

***

SEG will switch from the cage to the ring on Saturday at Canterbury Park when the organization holds a boxing event dubbed "Pound 4 Pound."

The boxing event features a main event of Jamal James vs. Corey Rodriguez, two of Minnesota's brightest prospects.

The show also features the boxing debut of MMA standout Dan "The Hitman" Moret.

Tickets are still available, starting at just $30. Fights are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

***

As the year winds down, it's time to start thinking about nominations for the end-of-the-year Minnesota MMA News awards.

As usual, award nominations must be accompanied by video support (IE, a nomination for submission of the year will not be accepted without video of the fight).

Again this year, MNMMANEWS will award yearly winners in the categories of Fight, Fighter, Submission, Knockout, Rookie, Upset, Amateur, Event and Coach. We also are adding a category for Female Fighter of the Year.

Promoters, managers and coaches can start submitting nominations on Dec. 1 ... so that's plenty of time to line up video and other date to support your nominations.

Good luck to all!