Sergio Moraes has been forced out of another UFC card with an injury, and the promotion brought another TUF: Brazil alum to replace him in Brasilia.
Expected to face Santiago Ponzinibbio at the UFC Fight Night 51 card on Sept. 13 in Brazil, Moraes suffered another knee injury, and will be replaced by Wendell Oliveira. UFC officially announced the change Monday night.
Oliveira (24-7) competed at the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but failed to enter the house after losing a close split decision to season winner Warlley Alves at the preliminary fight. “War Machine” won 18 of the past 19 bouts, including 11 finishes.
A fellow TUF: Brazil veteran, Ponzinibbio (18-2) looks to get back on track after suffering a decision loss to Ryan LaFlare in his UFC debut in November. “El Rasta” was expected to return against Jordan Mein and Ildemar Alcantara earlier this year, but was pulled from both fights with injuries.
UFN 51 is scheduled for the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil, and is headlined by “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski. Here’s the official for UFC Fight Night 51 lineup:
Antonio Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski
Gleison Tibau vs. Piotr Hallmann
Leonardo Santos vs. Lukasz Sajewski
Wendell Oliveira vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Igor Araujo vs. George Sullivan
Iuri Alcantara vs. Russell Doane
Jessica Andrade vs. Valerie Letourneau
Godofredo Pepey vs. Dashon Johnson
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Efrain Escudero
Paulo Thiago vs. Sean Spencer
Rani Yahya vs. Johnny Bedford