A major change has been made to the upcoming UFC on Fox 7 card as UFC officials announced overnight that Dan Hardy fell to an injury during his training camp that will keep him from meeting Matt Brown on April 20 in San Jose as part of the next major Fox card (via Yahoo Sports).
It didn’t take long, however, for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to find a suitable replacement as former Strikeforce fighter Jordan Mein will step into Hardy’s shoes and face Brown at the upcoming event.
Mein just made his debut in the Octagon last weekend at UFC 158 where he brutalized former middleweight contender Dan Miller, finishing the fight in the first round. It marked the first time in over 20 professional fights that Miller had been finished.
The win introduced Mein to the UFC audience in a big way, and at only 23 years of age, the young Canadian has already managed to rack up 35 professional fights with 27 victories.
A nasty striker who throws from all angles, Mein was considered one of the top prospects coming to the UFC by way of Strikeforce and he’s already defeated a list of former Octagon competitors.
Mein holds wins over names such as Joe Riggs, Forrest Petz and Josh Burkman and will look to make an even bigger splash for his next fight in the UFC.
It won’t be an easy task however, going up against former Ultimate Fighter competitor, Matt Brown.
The long time UFC welterweight is currently riding a four-fight win streak in the UFC, including his devastating knockout over Ultimate Fighter season 1 cast member Mike Swick in his last match at UFC on Fox 5.
The Ohio native has been traveling and training at numerous locations for his upcoming fight, but now faces an entirely new opponent with Hardy out of the picture and being replaced by Mein.
As for Dan Hardy, UFC officials did not disclose the injury that the British-born fighter suffered or when he would be able to return to action.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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