“Josh Grispi had to withdraw from UFC 136 in Houston, but the always ready Nam Phan is stepping up and taking his place vs Matt Grice on October 8th,” said UFC President Dana White. “Both fighters have verbally agreed to the featherweight matchup.”
No other update on Grice’s injury was provided by promotion officials.
UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III will take place on October 8 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event features two title bouts, as lightweight champ Frankie Edgar faces challenger Gray Maynard in their back-to-back title bout, and featherweight title holder Jose Aldo puts his belt on the line against Kenny Florian. The event also coincides with a two day UFC Fan Expo being held at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Nam Phan (16-9) fought last weekend at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, losing a unanimous decision to opponent Mike Brown in a featherweight bout. That was the TUF 12 alums second straight UFC loss, coming of a “Fight of the Night” split decision defeat to Leonard Garcia at the TUF 12 Finale. UFC President Dana White expressed his displeasure with the result by awarding Phan with his win bonus.
Matt ‘The Real One’ Grice (13-4) made his return to the UFC after a four-bout departure, earning four straight wins in that span. Grice faced Ricardo Lamas last June in his featherweight debut at the UFC on Versus 4 show in Pittsburgh. He would lose that bout by first round TKO putting his overall UFC record at 1-4.