UFC Announces Replacement Fights For UFC 85

The UFC has officially confirmed three of the rumored bouts that have been floating around the internet the past few days. As we posted a few hours ago, Matt Hughes will be taking on Thiago Alves in the night’s main event.

“Obviously Chuck Liddell’s injury was a big blow, but as always our incredible fighters step up to give fans the best possible replacement,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Now we will see an explosive matchup between top ten ranked contender Thiago “Pitbull” Alves and two time former UFC World Champion Matt Hughes. Alves is an ATT trained Muay Thai wrecking machine coming off of five straight wins and Hughes is a powerhouse wrestler who was the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history. These are two of the best athletes in the sport and we are thrilled to bring them to London for the UFC 85 main event.”

UFC Fight Card Updates

The UFC has announced several bouts for their upcoming events.

The Ultimate Fighter Season Seven Finale

Jeremy Horn will face off against Dean Lister in a middleweight bout. Both are highly experienced and technical ground fighters.
TUF finales have traditionally consisted of the season’s cast members squaring off against each other. It appears that won’t be the case this season. Matthew Riddle, who was eliminated on last night’s episode, shed some light on the situation to MMAJunkie.com.

“The people who didn’t fight up to par got the boot and got cut. I think the UFC’s just getting so big that they’re only going to take the best.

“A lot of the guys from the cast weren’t invited to fight at the finale.”

Check out our fight cards section for the full TUF 7 fight card.

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UFC Fight Card Shake-Ups

With recent injuries to Chuck Liddell and Rob Emerson, the UFC has had to make some changes to their UFC 84 and UFC 85 fight cards.

UFC 84: Ill Will

Rich Clementi—yes, the same Rich Clementi who just fought this past weekend at UFC 83—will be replacing Rob Emerson in a lightweight match against Terry Etim, according to the UFC.

UFC 84 takes place on May 24, so this only gives Clementi one month to prepare for the fight. The injury Rob Emerson suffered is unknown at this time.

Check out our fight cards section for the full UFC 84 fight card.

UFC 85

MMAWeekly.com is reporting that James Irvin will replace Chuck Liddell in the match against Rashad Evans. Irvin last fought at Ultimate Fight Night 13 with a record-tying quickest knockout of Houston Alexander. The UFC has yet to make a formal announcement.