Before Papy Abedi entered the UFC he was one of the top middleweight prospects in the world. A drop to welterweight has seen the Judoka have a largely unsuccessful octagon career, but after narrowly avoiding the axe with a split decision win over Besam Yousef at UFC on Fuel TV 9 he's decided to return to the division that saw his early career success. He'll make his Middleweight debut against hard-hitting TUF vet Dylan Andrews at UFC on Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann 2.

Andrews is fresh off a TKO win over Jimmy Quinlan at the TUF 17 Finale. He's not young at 33 years of age, so the time is nigh if he's going to make an impact at middleweight. Abedi is certainly the right caliber of opponent and his clinch game and power striking should give Andrews a reasonable test and decent, but not dramatic step up in competition.

For Abedi, this has to be considered a do or die fight for him. His UFC career so far has been miserable, with losses to Thiago Alves and James Head, and only a single unimpressive win to his credit. The UFC can't be satisfied with his performance as a fighter that they obviously thought quite highly of when they signed him. He's made the weight change to get a fresh start, but if he can't find a win here this may be the end of his time with the promotion.

It's a good sink or swim fight for both men in a division that can provide opportunities quickly to fighters who perform well. I would expect Andrews to be the early favorite, but eventually I think the winner will be a bit of a coin flip. Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 takes place on August 28 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stay tuned for more fight announcements and card updates.



