The UFC works fast because it took less than six hours for the promotion to find a new main event for The Ultimate Fighter 17 finale show after flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson suffered an injury, forcing the cancellation of his bout against John Moraga (per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com).
Two bantamweight fighters looking to get back into the title race at 135 pounds will meet, as former WEC champion Urijah Faber faces Scott Jorgensen in the new headline fight for the card landing on FX on April 13.
UFC President Dana White made the announcement via Twitter late Tuesday night:
Urijah Faber is fresh off of a first-round submission victory over Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157 last weekend. It marked Faber’s first fight and win since losing in an interim bantamweight title fight against Renan Barao last July.
Faber dispatched of Ivan Menjivar in the first round of their fight at UFC 157, and now he faces a good friend in fellow bantamweight Scott Jorgensen.
See, not only do Faber and Jorgensen occupy the same weight class, they also happen to be close friends, former training partners and managed by the same team at MMA Incorporated.
“Two very close friends are going to show the MMA world that friends can and will compete against each other,” said Mike Roberts in a statement sent to Bleacher Report after the fight was announced. “They will be even better friends after. As their manager and more importantly their friend, I couldn’t be more proud of them for stepping up when Dana needed them.”
Roberts and his business partner, Jeff Meyer, have worked with both Faber and Jorgensen for many years, but now they will see their clients go to battle as the main event for the TUF 17 finale in Las Vegas.
Jorgensen will be looking to build on his last win where he put away John Albert by rear-naked choke in the first round of their fight at UFC on Fox 5 last December.
Faber and Jorgensen will now face off in the main event for The Ultimate Fighter finale, which will also crown a new middleweight winner from the reality show currently airing on FX with coaches Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com