There are some musical chairs going on with the UFC FIght Night 47 card, which happens Aug. 16 in Bangor, Maine. UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi reported that the Blackzilians fighter Abel Trujillo was forced to pull out of his bout with Ross Pearson with an injury. Rather than scrap Pearson from the card, he’ll now face one-time No. 1 contender Gray Maynard in a lightweight battle.
Maynard’s original opponent, Fabricio Camoes, will now be rescheduled for a future bout. The Brazilian fighter had asked the UFC to postpone his fight with Maynard beforehand, anyway, after dealing with passport issues.
The Maynard-Pearson fight will be a clash to two Ultimate Fighter veterans, and will now stand as the co-main event. UFC Fight Night 47 will be headlined by light heavyweights Ovince St. Preux and Ryan Bader.
Maynard is coming off of back-to-back losses, his last one coming at the hands of Nate Diaz back in November at the TUF 18 Finale. After that knockout, Maynard took some time away and relocated his fight camp from Santa Cruz to Phoenix, Arizona, where he now trains with Power MMA.
As for Pearson, he’s had a couple of unusual bouts of late. His last fight ended in a controversial split decision loss to Diego Sanchez in Sanchez’s native Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most observers of that fight thought that Pearson won the bout. Before then Pearson’s fight with Melvin Guillard was deemed a “no context” when Guillard connected with an illegal knee to a downed opponent. Pearson was unable to continue, rendering the fight over.
UFC Fight Night 47 takes place at the Cross Insurance Arena in Bangor, Maine, on Aug. 16. Other featured bouts on the card include a flyweight battle between Zach Makovsky and Jussier Formiga and a middleweight bout between Tim Boetsch and Brad Tavares.