An injury forces the first change at the UFC Fight Night 38 card.
The UFC has announced that Gleison Tibau, who was expected to take on Mairbek Taisumov in Natal, Brazil, on March 23, is off the card with an injury Wednesday. Michel Prazeres, who is 1-1 under the UFC banner, steps in as late replacement.
Sources close to the situation told MMAFighting.com that Tibau has suffered a knee injury. It won’t require surgery, and he’s expected to return to training in three weeks.
Coming off a split decision victory over Jesse Ronson at UFC 165 in Toronto, Canada, the 30-year-old Prazeres (17-1) suffered the only loss in his professional career in his UFC debut when he fought to a decision against Paulo Thiago at UFC on FX 8.
Taisumov (21-4) entered the UFC in January riding a three-fight win streak, and defeated Tae Hyun Bang at UFC Fight Night 34 in Singapore. A professional fighter since 2007, “Beckan” has 19 stoppage victories under his belt, with 10 knockouts and nine submissions.
UFC Fight Night 38 takes place at the Ginasio Nelio Dias in Natal, Brazil, and airs live on Fox Sports 1. The complete card is the following:
Maurício Rua vs. Dan Henderson
Cezar Ferreira vs. C.B. Dollaway
Leonardo Santos vs. Norman Parke
Fabio Maldonado vs. Gian Villante
Rony Jason vs. Steven Siler
Michel Prazeres vs. Mairbek Taisumov
Ronny Markes vs. Thiago Santos
Jussier Formiga vs. Scott Jorgensen
Thiago Perpetuo vs. Kenny Robertson
Diego Brandao vs. Will Chope
Noad Lahat vs. Godofredo Pepey
Francimar Barroso vs. Hans Stringer