Chad Mendes won’t be waiting for Jose Aldo. Instead, he will take a fight and remain on the UFC 133 card in Philadelphia.
Mendes will now face Rani Yahya at UFC 133, according to MMA Junkie.
The UFC 133 card took another hit when it was announced that Aldo would not be able to defend his title against the top contender, Mendes. That is the second championship bout that could have happened in the UFC’s second trip to Philadelphia.
The other championship bout was rumored to be Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title before Jones put off the fight for surgery. Jones opted not to go through with the surgery.
Mendes made his UFC debut earlier this year in February with a unanimous decision victory over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 126. Mendes is currently undefeated with a 10-0 mark.
Yahya last fought January when he won by unanimous decision over former WEC featherweight champion, Mike Brown.
It is yet to be seen if Mendes vs. Yahya will be a main-card fight.
UFC 133 also contains a light heavyweight showdown between Evans and Phil Davis. It also has a middleweight bout between Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama and Vitor Belfort.
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