(No, Conor. It was certainly *not* as good for us as it was for you. / Photo via @TheNotoriousMMA)
After tearing ligaments in his thumb, UFC featherweight Cole Miller has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled main event meeting with Conor McGregor at UFC Fight Night 46 (July 19th; Dublin). UFC officials announced yesterday that TUF 14 winner Diego Brandao will be subbing in for Miller against the Irish rising star.
Brandao hasn’t competed since UFC 168 in December, where he missed weight by 6.5 pounds, threatened to stab Dustin Poirier in the neck, then got knocked out in the first round. (Not your best work, dude.) He’s had some bad luck getting a fight since then. First, he was supposed to fight Will Chope in March at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2, but Chope was removed from the card at the last minute after some brutal domestic violence charges from his past were uncovered. Then, Brandao was slated to fight Brian Ortega at the TUF Brazil 3 Finale last weekend, but pulled out two weeks before the event due to an undisclosed injury.
Now, Brandao is in a main event against The King of Dublin — which kind of seems undeserved, but considering that McGregor and Brandao have had their eyes on each other since last year, it could still be an entertaining scrap. The current fight-lineup for UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandao is…
Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao
Gunnar Nelson vs. Zak Cummings
Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
Ilir Latifi vs. Tom Lawlor
Cody Donovan vs. Nikita Krylov
Phil Harris vs. Neil Seery
Trevor Smith vs. Tor Troeng
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Norman Parke