Stipe Miocic now faces Fabricio Werdum for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 196 Cain Velasquez has been snakebit yet again as the former heavyweight champ is off UFC 196 due to a back injury. UFC officials today Sunday that Stipe Miocic will now be facing current heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum at UFC 196 instead. Miocic (14-2) is coming off a 54-second victory over Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195. Prior to that he was slated to fight Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 76, but had to withdraw due to injury. Werdum (20-5-1 looks to defend his unified title for the very first time. The Brazilian submitted the former champ Velasquez back at UFC 188 last June. There is currently no timetable for Velasquez’s return was not immediately established. Here’s an updated look at UFC 196 MAIN CARD Fabricio Werdum (c) vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight championship Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson Roy Nelson vs. Jared Rosholt Rafael Cavalcante vs. Ovince Saint Preux Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky PRELIMINARY CARD Josh Burkman vs. K.J. Noons Damian Grabowski vs. Derrick Lewis Mike Pyle vs. Sean Spencer Misha Cirkunov vs. Alex Nicholson PRELIMINARY CARD Mickey Gall vs. Mike Jackson Artem Lobov vs. Alex White Ray Borg vs. Justin Scoggins Noad Lahat vs. Diego Rivas Holbrook injured, Bryan Barberena now meets Sage Northcutt at UFC on FOX 18 With lightweight Andrew Holbrook withdrawing last week due to injury, Bryan Barberena now takes on Sage Northcutt in a welterweight contest. Barberena (10-3) is coming off a decision loss to Chad Laprise at UFC 186 which snapped his seven-fight win streak. Prior to making his UFC debut in December of 2014, the MMA Lab product had competed primarily as a welterweight, so a move up in weight class shouldn’t be an issue for the 26-year old. Northcutt (7-0) won his second UFC fight by submitting Cody Pfister at UFC Fight Night 80 in December. While Northcutt moves up to welterweight for this fight, he had competed at 170-pounds as early as last May when he defeated James Christopherson at Fury FC 6. UFC on FOX 18 takes place this Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Here’s an updated look at the card. MAIN CARD Anthony Johnson vs. Ryan Bader Josh Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell Iuri Alcantara vs. Jimmie Rivera Bryan Barberena vs. Sage Northcutt PRELIMINARY CARD Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Diego Ferreira Kevin Casey vs. Rafael Natal Dustin Ortiz vs. Wilson Reis George Sullivan vs. Alexander Yakovlev Alex Caceres vs. Masio Fullen UFC FIGHT PASS PRELIMINARY CARD Damon Jackson vs. Levan Makashvili Tony Martin vs. Felipe Olivieri Randy Brown vs. Matt Dwyer Nathan Coy replaces Bryan Barberena against Jonavin Webb at UFC Fight Night 82 With Bryan Barberena fighting this Saturday, TUF 21’s Nathan Coy steps in to face Jonavin Webb. Coy (14-6) is coming off back to back losses and will be looking for his first win since 2014. He did however defeat Valdir Araujo in an exhibition bout last year on Season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter. Webb (8-1) is looking for his first UFC win as he dropped a split decision to Kyle Noke at UFC Fight Night 65, which also snapped his eight-fight win streak. Here’s an updated look at UFC Fight Night 82. Donald Cerrone vs. Tim Means Derek Brunson vs. Roan Carneiro Cody Garbrandt vs. John Lineker Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Brandon Thatch Dennis Bermudez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri Shane Campbell vs. James Krause Alex Garcia vs. Sean Strickland Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Marion Reneau Chris Camozzi vs. Joe Riggs Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Daniel Sarafian Trevor Smith vs. Leonardo Augusto Guimaraes Sarah Moras vs. Lauren Murphy Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Anthony Hamilton Nathan Coy vs. Jonavin Webb Ross Pearson vs. Abel Trujillo has been added to UFC Fight Night 84 in Australia A lightweight content pitting TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson and Blackzillians product Abel Trujillo is set for UFC Fight Night 84. Pearson (18-10-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night 81. The Alliance MMA product is currently 2-2 in his last four bouts. Trujillo (13-7 NC) snapped his two fight losing streak in his last bout, submitting Tony Sims at UFC 195. UFC Fight Night 84 takes place at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, AUS. Here’s an updated look at the card Mark Hunt vs. Frank Mir Neil Magny vs. Hector Lombard James Te-Huna vs. Steve Bossé Brendan O’Reilly vs. Alan Jouban Dan Kelly vs. Antônio Carlos Júnior Bec Rawlings vs. Seohee Ham Jake Matthews vs. Johnny Case Richard Walsh vs. Viscardi Andrade
MMA Odds and Ends for Monday: Velasquez injured, Miocic steps up to face Werdum at UFC 196
