Francimar Barroso reportedly replaces Drysdale, meets Oliveira at UFC 163

UFC newcomer Francimar Barroso (15-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) reportedly will replace Robert Drysdale (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and meet fellow light heavyweight Ednaldo Oliveira (13-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) next month at UFC 163.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along news of Drysdale’s withdrawal earlier today, and Tatame.com has since reported Barroso will step in as a replacement. UFC officials, though, haven’t made a formal announcement.

UFC 163 takes place Aug. 3 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Barroso vs. Oliveira is expected to be part of the Facebook-streamed preliminary card, which precede additional prelims on FX and a pay-per-view main card.

Barroso enters the UFC with three straight wins and 12 victories in his past 13 fights. “Bodao’s” sole defeat during the streak came to Russian fighter Baga Agaev. In April he submitted Simao Melo da Silva at a regional show in his native Brazil. It was his 14th stoppage in 15 career wins.

Oliveira returns to action for the first time since UFC 142 in early 2012, when he suffered a submission loss to heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga in his promotional debut. Prior to that, the Brazilian striker had posted eight knockouts in an undefeated start to his career. Recently injuries have slowed his return to the cage.

The latest UFC 163 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Jose Aldo vs. Chan Sung Jung – for featherweight title
• Phil Davis vs. Lyoto Machida
• Cezar Ferreira vs. Clint Hester
• Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson
• John Lineker vs. Phil Harris

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Anthony Perosh
• Sheila Gaff vs. Amanda Nunes
• Neil Magny vs. Sergio Moraes
• Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Josh Clopton vs. Rani Yahya
• Francimar Barroso vs. Ednaldo Oliveira
• Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Ednaldo Oliveira)