Jamie Varner
An injury to fighter Terry Etim (15-4) has forced the British fighter off the upcoming UFC on FOX 4 card. Etim had been scheduled to meet Joe Lauzon (21-7) at the California event.
News of Etim’s injury was announced Tuesday night on FUEL TV’s “UFC Tonight” program.
UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera is expected to take place on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Brandon Vera.
Update: No injury details were released but the UFC did announce a replacement for Etim in former WEC champion, and new “company man” as many are calling him, Jamie Varner (20-6-1, 2NC).
The promotion named Varner late Wednesday night via Twitter (@UFC).
– With Etim injured, @Joelauzon will now face @jamievarner at @UFCONFOX
Etim suffered a loss in his last fight, losing via knockout via spinning wheel kick versus Edson Barboza at UFC 142. The conciliation for the loss was the “Fight of the Night” bonus awarded to both fighters at the Brazilian show. Etim is 1-2 in his last three bouts with a seventeen-second submission win versus Eddie Faaloloto at UFC 138.
Varner recently returned to the Octagon last month stepping in as a replacement for Evan Dunham versus Edson Barboza at UFC 146. Varner proved the skeptics wrong by finishing a very tough Barboza via first round TKO. It was the former WEC champions first bout under Zuffa since his last WEC appearance back in December 2010 when he lost by submission to Shane Roller. Varner’s last Octagon appearance was in March 2007 when he earned a technical submission victory over Jason Gilliam.
Lauzon had a two-fight win streak snapped by former WEC champ Anthony Pettis in February after ‘Showtime’ ended things in the first round with a knockout head kick. The wins in that streak were over Melvin Guillard at UFC 136 and Curt Warburton at UFC on Versus 4.