Welterweights Rick Story (16-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) and John Howard (22-9 MMA, 6-4 UFC) will meet at the UFC’s summer return to New Jersey.

UFC officials today announced the 170-pounders have verbally agreed to meet at UFC Fight Night 45.

The event takes place July 16 at Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J. The bulk of the card is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

It’s not clear where Story vs. Howard will be placed on the lineup.

Story fights for the 16th time under the UFC banner. The 29-year-old Brave Legion fighter quickly ascended the UFC’s 170-pound ranks after winning six straight fights from 2009-2011, besting the likes of current champion Johny Hendricks and veteran Thiago Alves. However, he’s struggled with inconsistency since then. He was hoping to claim his third win in four fights at UFC 171 but ultimately suffered a split-decision loss to Kelvin Gastelum in a competitive bout.

He looks to rebound against Howard, who went 4-3 in his first UFC stint before fighting his way back to the organization in 2013. The 31-year-old ex-middleweight initially experienced success and posted decision wins over Uriah Hall and Siyar Bahadurzada, which was part of an overall 8-1 streak. However, this past month at UFC Fight Night 39, he suffered a decision loss to Ryan LaFlare.

The latest UFC Fight Night 45 card now includes:

Donald Cerrone vs. Jim Miller
John Howard vs. Rick Story
John Lineker vs. Alptekin Ozkilic
Aljamain Sterling vs. Hugo Viana

http://mmajunkie.com/2014/05/rick-story ... -night-45/