Gian Villante will now meet Sean O’Connell on June 28 in New Zealand after his original opponent Anthony Perosh withdrew from their light-heavyweight fight due to injury.
News of the switch was announced by the UFC on Tuesday. The event, headlined by James Te Huna vs. Nate Marquardt, will air on UFC Fight Pass in the United States from Vector Arena in Auckland, N.Z.
O’Connell (15-5) will look to win his first UFC fight after he was knocked out in the first round by Ryan Jimmo in his debut last month. The loss snapped a six-fight winning streak.
Villante (11-5) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Fabio Maldonado last month. Prior to that, he won his first fight inside the Octagon by knocking out Cody Donovan at UFC 167.