The UFC’s return to Brazil later this month has lost one-half of its main event.
Heavyweight Junior dos Santos (16-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who was scheduled to meet Stipe Miocic (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale headliner, has been forced out with an injured hand.
That news comes courtesy of Brazilian news outlet Combate. The UFC has not yet made a formal announcement.
The TUF Brazil 3 Finale takes place May 31 at Sao Paulo’s Ibirapuera Gymnasium. Broadcast plans haven’t yet been made official, but the card is expected to air on FOX Sports 1.
It is not yet known if Miocic will get a new opponent for the event on less than a month’s notice, or if another fight will shift into the headlining spot.
The fight originally was booked to co-headline UFC 173 a week earlier in Las Vegas. But in April, the UFC shifted it to the main event in Sao Paulo while moving that card’s previous headliner, Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva, to UFC 175 in July.
Earlier this year, Miocic expressed his willingness to fight dos Santos after the ex-champ respectfully called him out on MMAjunkie Radio.
“It would be a great fight; I would love it,” Miocic said in a subsequent interview with MMAjunkie Radio. “We have great styles for each other. I think it would be a hell of a fight, actually.”
Now it’s a fight that will have to wait.
Dos Santos, a former UFC champion, was looking to get back on track following a second loss in October to Cain Velasquez in an attempt to recapture the title. Velasquez spent most of the fight beating dos Santos up before finally getting a TKO stoppage in the fifth round. Dos Santos earned his chance at getting the belt back with a knockout of Mark Hunt nearly a year ago.
Miocic has won two straight after a “Fight of the Night” loss to Stefan Struve in September 2012, the first loss of his career. He rebounded with decision wins over Roy Nelson at UFC 161 and Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC on FOX 10.
With the change, the TUF Brazil 3 Finale now includes:
MAIN CARD
Stipe Miocic vs. TBA
opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – “TUF: Brazil 3″ middleweight tourney final
opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – “TUF: Brazil 3″ heavyweight tourney final
Demian Maia vs. Alexander Yakovlev
Rony Jason vs. Robert Peralta
PRELIMINARY CARD
Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega
Ernest Chavez vs. Elias Silverio
Rodrigo Damm vs. Rashid Magomedov
Paulo Thiago vs. Gasan Umalatov
Mark Eddiva vs. Kevin Souza
Matt Hobar vs. Pedro Munhoz
http://mmajunkie.com/2014/05/report-jun ... oken-hand/
