Chris Weidman Injured, Costa Philippou Now Faces Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 in Las Vegas

Promotion officials announced the news on Wednesday, revealing Weidman’s teammate Constantinos Philippou will now step up to face “The Barbarian” at the Dec. 29 event. The Serra-Longo Fight Team representative was initially supposed to face Nick Ring at UFC 154 this past weekend, but that bout was scrapped after Ring withdrew at the last minute due to illness.

The pay-per-view event takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight championship rematch between reigning titlist Junior dos Santos and former belt holder Cain Velasquez.

Philippou (pictured), 32, rides a four-fight winning streak heading into his clash with Boetsch. The hard-hitting middleweight has been perfect so far this year, outpointing Court McGee in March before doing the same to Riki Fukuda in July at UFC 148. Known for his punching power, Philippou has earned five of his 11 victories by knockout and has never been finished in his four years as a pro.

Boetsch, 31, has also won four straight fights. The former light heavyweight has not yet tasted defeat at 185 pounds, posting wins over Kendall Grove and Ring last year before kicking off 2012 with a Feb. 26 come-from-behind technical knockout of highly regarded Japanese talent Yushin Okami. Most recently, “The Barbarian” topped former Bellator titlist Hector Lombard on July 21, taking a split verdict from the heavy-handed southpaw at UFC 149.