A short notice heavyweight bout pitting Roy Nelson (19-7) against Stipe Miocic (9-1) has been added to the main card of UFC 161.
MMA Junkie first reported the booking, which was later confirmed by UFC officials.
UFC 161’s main card was left one bout short after UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao withdrew from a scheduled title defense against Eddie Wineland due to a torn ligament in his right foot on Tuesday. Wineland’s status on the card remains undetermined at the time of this writing.
Miocic was initially slated to fight returning heavyweight Soa Palelei (18-3) on the night’s preliminary card. Left without an opponent, Palelei will now serve as a backup opponent in case any of the card’s four heavyweight suffer an additional injury.
Nelson returns to action just weeks after knocking out Cheick Kongo at UFC 159. The performance earned Nelson yet another ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus and extended his streak of first-round knockouts to three straight.
UFC 161 takes place June 15, 2013 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Canada.