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After Sam Alvey broke his hand and withdrew from his 205-pound showdown against Mauricio Rua, set for UFC Fight Night 164 on Sat., Nov. 16, 2019, inside Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil on ESPN+, the promotion quickly found a replacement.
Indeed, UFC announced earlier today (Tues., Oct. 29, 2019) that Paul Craig would step in to face “Shogun” on two week’s notice. Craig is coming off a first round submission win over Vinicius Moreira at UFC Fight Night 159 a few weeks ago in Mexico City, Mexico.
The win was “Bearjew’s” second of the year, his first since getting knocked out by Alonzo Menifield at UFC on ESPN 3 this past summer. All told, Craig has racked up an even 4-4 record inside the Octagon.
As for Rua, he hasn’t competed since knocking out Tyson Pedro at UFC Fight Night 142 in December of 2018 (see it again here). The victory was Mauricio’s fourth in last five outings. At 37 years of age and with more than 40 professional fights to his credit, Rua’s recent run indicates that the former 205-pound champion isn’t planning on hanging them up anytime soon.
UFC Fight Night 164 will feature a Light Heavyweight bout that will see Jan Blachowicz welcome Ronaldo Souza to the division after “Jacarae” competed at Middleweight for the last 15 years. Also on the card, Charles Oliveira takes on Jared Gordon in Lightweight action.
To see the entire UFC Fight Night 164: “Blachowicz vs Jacare” fight card click here.