An undisclosed injury has forced TUF 5 finalist Manny Gamburyan to once again withdraw from a scheduled bout, this time against Hacran Dias at UFC on FX 8.
Upstart featherweight Nik Lentz will fight the streaking Brazilian as a late-replacement. Promotion officials announced the switch on Monday.
UFC on FX 8 takes place May 18, 2013 at the Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil. Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold meets Vitor Belfort in the night’s main event.
Lentz (23-5-2, 1 NC) racked up a respectable 5-2-1 record during a four-year run in the UFC’s lightweight division, before moving down to featherweight in mid-2012. Since then the 28-year-old has rolled off consecutive victories, stopping Eiji Mitsuoka in the first round and defeating Diego Nunes via unanimous decision.
Dias (21-1-1), meanwhile, has traveled an rocky road since debuting in the UFC with a decision victory over Yuri Alcantara. The 28-year-old was subsequently set to face Chad Mendes in late-2012, however a last-second shoulder injury sidelined the Brazilian. Dias was then scheduled to fight Gamburyan, only to see Gamburyan’s second injury withdrawal of 2013 allow Lentz to step into the picture.
Dias currently rides a nine-fight win streak, six of which ended before reaching the judges’ hands.