An injury to TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem has forced the fighter out of a lightweight bout versus Anthony ‘The Assassin’ Njokuani (14-5, 1NC) at UFC 141. Stepping in with under a months notice will be recent UFC 139 winner Danny ‘Last Call’ Castillo (12-4).
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Ultimate Fighting Championship via Twitter (@ufc).
UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem is scheduled to take place on December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. No word yet on where the Castillo vs. Njokuani bout will end up, which will be either the televised or Facebook prelim portion of the card.
Castillo is coming off a first round TKO victory over Shamar Bailey at UFC 139 last month in San Jose. ‘Last Call’ was upset with Bailey for coming in at 158 lbs at the weigh-ins, and was able to vent some of his frustration by finishing his opponent at 4:52 of the first. The win allowed Castillo to move back into the win column after losing a decision to Jacob Volkmann in August at the UFC on Versus 5 event.
Njokuani hasn’t been in action since July, having put on a striking clinic against Andrew Winner at UFC 132 in a unanimous decision victory over the Brit. ‘The Assassin’ had been expected to face Paul Taylor at UFC 138 last month, but Taylor pulled out days before the event due to injury. With little time to find a new opponent, the UFC opted to pull the bout entirely. Like his new opponent, Njokuani also suffered a loss previous to this victory, losing a decision to Edson Barboza at UFC 128 in a “Fight of the Night” battle in New Jersey.
I expect Castillo to take this fight to the ground and control the match from the top position. If he can’t do that, then he should plan on getting beat up over for 15-minutes, or knocked out.