MMAFighting reports that Brennan Ward has been forced off his fight against David Rickels and the matchup has been cancelled. In addition, welterweight Javier Torres has withdrawn from his fight against Neiman Gracie according to MMAJunkie due to injury. Instead Zak Bucia (18-8) will face Gracie on short notice.
Salim Touahri replaces Jim Wallhead against Warlley Alves at UFC Fight Night 118 MMAJunkie also reported on Monday that Salim Touahri has signed with the UFC and will face Warlley Alves this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 118.
Touahri (10-1) heads into his debut on a five-fight win streak and competes for the first time in over a year. The 28-year-old boasts eight stoppage victories in 10-career wins. Here’s an updated look at the card.
MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 3 p.m. ET)
Donald Cerrone vs. Darren Till
Jodie Esquibel vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Jan Blachowicz vs. Devin Clark
Oskar Piechota vs. Jonathan Wilson
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 11:45 a.m. ET )
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Marcin Held
Anthony Hamilton vs. Adam Wieczorek
Brian Kelleher vs. Damian Stasiak
Sam Alvey vs. Ramazan Emeev
Andre Fili vs. Artem Lobov
Warlley Alves vs. Salim Touahri
Aspen Ladd vs. Lina Lansberg
Felipe Arantes vs. Josh Emmett
Ian McCall will participate in the Rizin bantamweight grand prix on Dec. 29 Japanese promotion Rizin announced on Monday that former UFC flyweight Ian McCall has signed with the promotion and will compete in the upcoming 135 pound grand prix. The 33-year-old will face Manel Kape. McCall (13-5-1) hasn’t fought since January 2015 following a number of injuries and fight cancellations. Kape (7-1) has won six of his seven fights by stoppage.