Gabriel Gonzaga
An undisclosed injury to UFC heavyweight Shane del Rosario (11-2) has forced the former Strikeforce fighter out of an upcoming UFC 162 bout with Dave ‘Pee Wee’ Herman (21-5).
Stepping in against Herman will be BJJ practitioner Gabriel ‘Napão’ Gonzaga (14-7) for the July 6th show.
Officials with the top promotion announced the match on Twitter (@UFC) Friday evening.
– With Shane @DelRosarioMMA injured, @DaveHermanMMA now faces Gabriel @GonzagaBJJ at #UFC162 in Vegas during #FightWeek #heavyweights
UFC 162: Silva vs Weidman is expected to take place on July 6, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will see UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva defend his title versus top contender Chris Weidman.
The bout between Herman and Gonzaga will appear on the FX broadcasted prelim card.
Gonzaga looks to bounced back from a knockout loss last April after the Brazilian fell to Travis Browne via first round knockout at the TUF 17 Finale. The defeat ended a three fight win streak for ‘Napão’ who won two straight in the Octagon in his return to the UFC. Those wins included submissions against Ben Rothwell at UFC on FX 7 and Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142.
Herman, who declared to the world that Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t work before his last fight, has dropped three straight and will certainly be looking at a pink slip should he lose again. His last fight took him to Brazil where he was submitted by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 153. Following that match, ‘Pee Wee’ tested positive for Marijuana. The other losses include a KO verus Roy Nelson at UFC 146 and a TKO loss versus Stefan Struve at UFC on FUEL TV 1.