The movers and shakers at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have shifted a fight from one card to another.
Heavyweights Travis Browne and Derrick Lewis were originally set to do battle at UFC 208. That is no longer the case. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole revealed the bout will now serve as the main event of the UFC Fight Night card in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Check out Iole’s tweet:
Confirmed: @travisbrowneMMA vs @Thebeast_ufc is now main event of #UFCHalifax
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) January 23, 2017
Junior dos Santos was going to headline the event with Stefan Struve, but “Skyscraper” went down with a torn labrum. UFC officials attempted to find a replacement for “Cigano,” but couldn’t do so. As a result, dos Santos was yanked from the card.
“Hapa” is looking to snap the two-fight skid he’s on. After beating Matt Mitrione, Browne was obliterated by former UFC heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez. He then tried his luck against another former title holder.
Browne went on to rematch Fabricio Werdum. “Vai Cavalo” won the fight by unanimous decision. A recent report stated that Browne had left Glendale Fighting Club in favor of Black House. The fighter’s manager later said that Browne is now training at multiple gyms.
“The Black Beast” has made great strides since suffering a TKO loss to Shawn Jordan. Lewis has put together a five-fight winning streak. His latest win was against Shamil Abdurakhimov at a UFC event in Albany. Lewis is currently ranked No. 8 in the heavyweight division.
Feb. 19 will be the date this UFC Fight Night card takes place. The fighters will compete inside the Scotiabank Centre. Middleweights Elias Theodorou and Cezar Ferreira will share the Octagon.
Another bout in the 185-pound division will also be featured. Thiago Santos will try to get back in the win column when he meets Jack Marshman. The inaugural UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza is also in action against Randa Markos.
.@TheBeast_UFC & @TravisBrowneMMA headline #UFCHalifax + @JohnyHendricks makes his MW debut against @HectorLombard! https://t.co/odwAZiFpIw pic.twitter.com/Zjm0yd5SwJ
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) January 23, 2017
