Another welterweight injury has led to a reshuffling of the Aug. 23 UFC Fight Night card in Tulsa.
Veteran Demian Maia had to pull out of his scheduled main-card bout with Mike Pyle due to an injury. UFC.com reported the news on Wednesday.
Update: Maia’s manager, Eduardo Alonso, informed MMAFighting.com that Maia suffered a bone bruise in his shoulder and later developed a staph infection, for which he was hospitalized Tuesday. Alonso also added that this was the first time in Maia’s 19 UFC fights that he’s had to pull out due to an injury.
As a result, Pyle will instead face Jordan Mein.
This marks the third opponent lined up for Mein for this event. The Canadian was originally set to face Thiago Alves, who withdrew. Next up was Brandon Thatch, who pulled out over the weekend due to a compound fracture of a toe on his left foot.
So we end up with Mein vs. Pyle.
Mein (28-9), who fights out of Alberta, is just 24, but already has 37 pro fights under his belt. He’s won four out of his past five bouts, the most recent a decision against Hernani Perpetuo on April 19.
Pyle (26-9-1), the 38-year old out of Las Vegas who goes by the nickname “Quicksand,” has been around seemingly since the dawn of MMA. Pyle has won five of his past six fights, most recently a TKO of T.J. Waldburger at UFC170. While known as a submission artist, Pyle has KO/TKO wins in four of his past five victories.