Gian Villante replaces Robert Drysdale, meets Cody Donovan at UFC 167

With Robert Drysdale unable to fight at UFC 167, Cody Donovan will now instead meet Gian Villante.

As MMAjunkie.com first reported, the Nevada State Athletic Commission denied Drysdale a license to fight after an out-of-competition drug test revealed an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio, leaving Donovan without an opponent. UFC officials today announced the new matchup.

UFC 167 takes place Nov. 16 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event’s main card airs live on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and MMAjunkie.com.

Donovan (8-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Villante (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) meet in the night’s very first fight.

“Donnybrook” Donovan looks to rebound from a first-round knockout loss to Ovince St. Preux in August at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston. That loss snapped a four-fight winning streak, including a knockout win in his UFC debut against Nick Penner this past December and a win under the Bellator banner.

Meanwhile, Villante takes the fight on short notice seeking his first UFC win. The 28-year-old fought five times under the Strikeforce banner and earned a three-fight winning streak for the promotion with victories over Derrick Mehmen, Trevor Smith and Keith Berry. However, he fell short in his UFC debut, suffering a technical-decision loss to Ovince St. Preux in on odd fight that was shortened by an “OSP” eye poke just 33 seconds into the final round.

With the replacement opponent in place, the UFC 167 lineup is again complete. The fight card includes:

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

• Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks – for welterweight title
• Rashad Evans vs. Chael Sonnen
• Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald
• Josh Koscheck vs. Tyron Woodley
• Ali Bagautinov vs. Tim Elliott

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Donald Cerrone vs. Evan Dunham
• Ed Herman vs. Thales Leites
• Brian Ebersole vs. Rick Story
• Edwin Figueroa vs. Erik Perez

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie.com, 6:45 p.m. ET)

• Jason High vs. Anthony Lapsley
• Vaughan Lee vs. Sergio Pettis
• Cody Donovan vs. Gian Villante

For more on UFC 167, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Gian Villante)