Canadian mixed martial artist and The Ultimate Fighter 3 contestant Kalib Starnes will face Alan Belcher at UFC 77 on October 20th in Cincinnati according to a report from Sherdog. The contract for the fight is not yet signed.

Starne, who trains with Revolution Fight Team in Vancouver as well as American Top Team in Florida, defeated Danny Abbadi by first round submission in. In his next fight Starnes lost to Yushin Okami at UFC 64 but he bounced back in his next fight with a win over Chris Leben at UFC 71. His overall MMA record is 8-1-1.

Belcher has a 10-3 MMA record and heavy hands recording six of his ten wins by knockout. After going 8-1 in other MMA promotion Belcher made his UFC debut at UFC 62 in a losing effort to Yushin Okami. He returned later in 2006 to face Jorge Santiago at UFC Fight Night 7, winning the fight with a knock out kick. He dropped his next UFC fight to TUF-veteran Kendall Grove but bounced back with a win over Sean Salmon at UFC 71 as a late replacement for Eric Schafer.

Both fighters are solid in the middleweight division but a win over good competition could cement a spot for either as a legitimate contender with several more wins. The middleweight division is light on contenders right now (although that may not be true following The Ultimate Fighter 7) so this matchup could have a near-immediate impact on the middleweight division.

For the latest on UFC 77 check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Tags: Alan Belcher, Kalib Starnes