English welterweight fighter John Scanlon (7-1) had been scheduled to meet Oklahoma City based fighter James Head (7-2) at the upcoming UFC 138 event in November, but an injury to Scanlon has forced him off the card.
Stepping in as a replacement will be fellow British fighter John ‘The One’ Maguire (16-3) who will make his UFC debut against Head.
News of the change surfaced on Wednesday, with MMAjunkie.com confirming Maguire as the replacement with sources close to the event.
UFC 138: Lebon vs. Munoz is scheduled to take place on November 5 at the LG Arena in Birmingham, England and marks the promotions first trip to the island country in 2011.
Head has one Octagon appearance under his belt, a submission loss to Nick Ring this past June at UFC 131 in Vancouver, Canada. The defeat ended a two fight win streak which saw Head earn a win against former UFC fighter Gerald Harris at an Xtreme Fight Night event in February of this year. Four of Head’s wins have come by (T)KO, two by submission, and one by decision.
Maguire (pictured) is currently riding a five-bout win streak which includes three straight title defenses of his UCMMA welterweight belt. The British based fighter fought last weekend at the Ultimate Challenge MMA event in London, defending his title by split decision in the main event against Peter Irving.