An undisclosed injury has forced Justin Edwards out of his “UFC on FUEL TV 7” fight against Gunnar Nelson. Enter “The Sandman.”
Former middleweight turned welterweight Jorge Santiago (Pictured) has agreed to serve as a last-minute substitute on February 16th.
This marks Santiago’s third stint with the UFC. Despite being one of the most accomplished 185-pounders in the world, the Brazilian hasn’t been able to translate that same success inside the Octagon.
The 32-year-old has gone just 1-4 in the big leagues, but owns a 25-10 record overall.
Nelson is unbeaten in his 11 pro outings (1 draw). The up-and-coming 24-year-old easily submitted DaMarques Johnson in his Octagon debut in September.
Nelson vs. Edwards was slated to appear on the main card. The new matchup isn’t expected to change the bout order.
The event takes place inside Wembley Arena in London, England. FUEL TV will broadcast the featured fights live beginning at 3PM ET/12PM PT.
Here is the show’s revised roster:
Preliminary Card:
(Facebook 12PM ET/9AM PT)
Phil Harris vs. Ulysses Gomez
Vaughan Lee vs. Motonobu Tezuka
Tom Watson vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Andy Ogle vs. Josh Grispi
Paul Sass vs. Danny Castillo
Terry Etim vs. Renee Forte
Main Card:
(FUEL TV 3PM ET/12PM PT)
Che Mills vs. Matt Riddle
James Te Huna vs. Ryan Jimmo
Gunnar Nelson vs. Jorge Santiago
Jimi Manuwa vs. Cyrille Diabate
Cub Swanson vs. Dustin Poirier
Michael McDonald vs. Renan Barao (UFC interim bantamweight champion)