The UFC was forced to change plans with Jose Aldo’s injury and the cancellation of UFC 176, and new bouts were added to different cards in August.
The UFC 177 pay-per-view card, scheduled for Aug. 30 in Sacramento, Calif., now features a lightweight clash between Danny Castillo and Tony Ferguson and a middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Lorenz Larkin.
Castillo (17-6) enters the 155-pound bout coming off a vicious knockout win over Charlie Brenneman in April, while Ferguson (15-3) looks for his third win in a row after finishing Mike Rio and Katsunori Kikuno.
Brunson (11-3) looks to get back to the win column following a TKO loss to Yoel Romero. With a 1-3 record under the UFC banner, Larkin (14-3, 1 no-contest) has his back against the wall after consecutive losses to Brad Tavares and Costas Philippou.
A pair of lightweight bouts was moved to the UFC Fight Night 49 card in Tulsa, Okla., on Aug. 23: Tony Martin vs. Beneil Dariush and James Vick vs. Walmir Lazaro.
Lazaro (12-2) makes his promotional debut riding an 11-fight win streak, including a knockout victory over UFC veteran Chris Wilson. Unbeaten in MMA, Vick (5-0) impressed in his Octagon debut with a 58-second submission win against Ramsey Nijem.
Martin (8-1) suffered his first professional loss in his UFC debut against Rashid Magomedov at UFC 169, and Dariush (7-1) also tries to get back to the wins after a first-round TKO loss to Ramsey Nijem in Abu Dhabi.