The Ultimate Fighting Championship has found a replacement for injured welterweight Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson (6-1), who was forced off the upcoming UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit event with a knee injury.
On Monday, the promotion identified Thompson’s replacement naming Matt ‘Deep Waters’ Riddle (6-3) as the man to take on Swedish based fighter Besam Yousef (6-1) at the Canadian event.
From UFC.com:
With a knee injury sidelining Stephen Thompson from his UFC 154 bout with Besam Yousef, longtime welterweight standout Matt Riddle has answered the call, stepping up to meet the Swedish fighter at the Bell Centre in Montreal on November 17.
Riddle of course, is coming off a 90-day retroactive suspension after testing positive for marijuana following his appearance at UFC 149 this past July. That suspension ended October 21st. ‘Deep Waters’ beat Chris Clements by third round submission and earned the “Submission of the Night” bonus. The Calgary Commission overturned the result to a “No Contest” which was also enacted retroactively.
UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit is scheduled to take place on November 17, 2012 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The welterweight fight between Riddle and Yousef is expected to appear on the Facebook streamed prelim card.
Riddle is 1-2, 1NC over his last four fights. Previous to the “No Contest” Riddle won a split decision against Henry Martinez at UFC 143, while dropping decisions to Lance Benoist, at UFN 25, and to Sean Pierson, at UFC 124.
Yousef debuted with the UFC this past April in Sweden as part of UFC on FUEL TV 2. He failed to extend his undefeated streak to seven by tapping out in the second round after opponent Simeon Thoresen sank in a rear-naked choke. Yousef had his last win in May 2011 at a The Zone FC event, defending that promotions welterweight title.