UFC welterweight contender Hector Lombard is out of his August 23 matchup against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 49.
Stepping in to replace the No. 6-ranked welterweight against Kim is Tyron Woodley, who recently dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to Rory MacDonald at UFC 174 in Vancouver.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the matchup change via Instagram:
Luckily for Kim, Lombard and Woodley are not dissimilar.
Lombard is a power puncher with great trips and throws and a heavy top game, while Woodley is a power puncher with Division I wrestling accolades and a powerful array of shots.
Either way, Kim will need solid takedown defense, and he'll need to keep his hands up at all times if he wishes to emerge victorious in Macau.
From a rankings perspective, a win over Woodley will look even better for Kim than a win over Lombard.
Woodley is currently ranked No. 4 in the 170-pound division, and he just came off a high-profile fight with MacDonald, who is ranked No. 2. He sniffed title contention but ultimately came up short in that fight, and Kim can thrust himself into the same conversation by eliminating Woodley at UFC Fight Night 49.
He has the momentum, winning four straight fights and coming off devastating back-to-back knockouts of Erick Silva and John Hathaway.
For Woodley, a win over Kim wouldn't catapult him to the title, but it would show that he can bounce back from a bad loss and rid himself of that lackluster performance. Now 2-2 in his last four, Woodley needs to defeat Kim to definitively prove that he belongs among the division's elite.
What do you think of the new matchup? Do you like it more or less than the original?
