And then there were 11, as in 11 bouts that will once again make up the “UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz” lineup. Rafael Natal (Pictured) found himself dateless in Philadelphia Monday morning after opponent Costantinos Phillippou got promoted to a pay-per-view bout against Jorge Rivera.
Shortly after the middleweight swap was made, MMAWeekly reported Paul Bradley would step in on just 12 days notice to play substitute.
Bradley holds an impressive 16-2 record and is currently enjoying a three-fight winning streak. Although he was a contestant on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Bradley was never granted the opportunity to compete professionally inside the Octagon until now.
Rivera was scheduled to meet Alessio Sakara in the August 6th show, but it was revealed earlier today Sakara had torn his ACL. It was the third time an injury had nixed the Rivera vs. Sakara matchup.
With less than two weeks remaining until showtime, hopefully this is the last UFC 133 will be seeing of the injury bug.
The Wells Fargo Center in Pennsylvania will host the star-studded event. A light heavyweight scrap between Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz will headline the pay-per-view broadcast.
Here is the card’s updated roster:
Preliminary Bouts:
(Facebook 6PM ET/3PM PT)
Rafael Natal vs. Paul Bradley
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan
Mike Pierce vs. Johny Hendricks
Nick Pace vs. Ivan Menjivar
(Spike TV 8PM ET/5PM PT)
Rani Yahya vs. Chad Mendes
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill
Main Bouts:
(Pay-Per-View 9PM ET/6PM PT)
Jorge Rivera vs. Costantinos Phillippou
Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald
Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman
Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz
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