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The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 light-heavyweight champion Ryan "Darth" Bader (9-0, 2-0 UFC) will be back in action this fall at UFC 104 in Los Angeles on October 24th when he takes on BJJ black belt Eric "Red" Schafer (11-3, 3-2 UFC).  Bader revealed the fight on his official Twitter account today:

Next fight...UFC 104 against Eric Shaufer (sic) in LA Oct 24th.

The Arizona Combat Sports-trained Ryan Bader stormed through the competition with on his season of TUF en-route to claiming the light-heavyweight crown against Vinny Magalhaes at the season finale.  Since then, Bader fought on the UFN 18 card back in April where he utilized his superior wrestling to take a unanimous decision over Carmelo Marrero, although he commented after the fight that he was not satisfied with his performance, and was disappointed that he was unable to finish the fight before it went to a decision.

Eric Schafer is a savvy submission artist who trains along with UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, at Duke Roufus's gym in Milwaukee.  Despite being highly decorated in the grappling world, Schafer struggled early in his UFC career, going 1-2 (although the losses came against solid competition: Stephan Bonnar and Michael Bisping), leading him to step away from the Octagon and take some fights in minor-league shows to build up his skills and confidence.  It was a successful move for "Red, as he went 2-0 outside the UFC, and then returned to submit Houston Alexander and TKO Antonio Mendes in consecutive fights, with the most recent (Mendes) taking place back in January at UFC 93.  Schafer was scheduled to take on Polish striker Tomasz Drwal on the TUF 9 finale last month, but an injury forced him to bow out with Mike Ciesnolevicz taking his place.

photos via ufc.com

UFC 104 coverage