An undisclosed injury to Julio Paulino (17-3) has forced the welterweight fighter out of his UFC 116 bout with Daniel Roberts (9-1). Making his return to the UFC will be Forrest Petz (18-7), who has won four straight to make his way back to the octagon.
Petz last appearance at a UFC event was back in October of 2007 where he lost a split decision to Josh Burkman at UFC 77, which was his fifth straight bout with the promotion going 2-3. Since that time he’s gone 5-2, including the four straight victories having fought for various promotions. His last pro fight was at the recent “Moosin: God of Martial Arts” event in May, where he earned a unanimous decision over Ralph Johnson.
Roberts is coming off the first professional loss of his career to John Howard after making his UFC debut at the UFC on Versus 1 event this past March. He was KO’d in the first round of that fight. Roberts has won seven of his nine victories by submission, and has only fought past the first round three times.
Their fight will take place on the preliminary card of the event.
“UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin” will take place on July 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. and is headlined by a heavyweight title unification bout between current champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim champ Shane Carwin.