On Wednesday, Ultimate Fighting Championship officials announced a change of opponents for the promotions upcoming UFC 130 event.
Bantamweight Brad Pickett was forced to back out of his fight with Miguel Torres (39-3) due to an undisclosed injury. Pickett has now been replaced by Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (9-1), who had been preparing to meet Renan Barao at the same event. Barao now awaits a new opponent to be named by officials.
UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard III is scheduled to take place on May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Johnson and Torres will meet on the Spike TV ‘UFC Prelims’ special.
Johnson has won three straight fights, including his UFC debut in February at UFC 126. “Mighty Mouse” earned a unanimous decision over Norifumi Yamamoto at the Las Vegas event. His previous three bouts were all under the WEC banner, earning wins over Damacio Page at WEC 52, and Nick Pace at WEC 51, while dropping his debut against Brad Pickett at WEC 48.
Torres also debuted with the UFC in his last fight, earning a unanimous decision against Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126. The win earned the former WEC champ a second straight victory, erasing two straight previous losses. Torres submitted Charlie Valencia at WEC 51, while dropping bouts to Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47, and to Brian Bowles at WEC 42 in a WEC bantamweight title bout.