Lightweight champ Justin Gaethje has new opponent for New Year's Eve WSOF 34 headliner

WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has a new opponent for his scheduled title defense on New Year’s Eve.

Officials today announced Luiz Firmino (19-7) has replaced injured Joao Zeferino (21-8) and now meets Gaethje (16-0) in the headliner of the show, which features four title fights.

WSOF 34 takes place Dec. 31 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the main card airs on NBC (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT) following prelims on NBCSN (3 p.m. ET) and MMAjunkie (1 p.m. ET).

“Our entire team wishes Joao Zeferino a full and speedy recovery, and hopes to see him return soon,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo stated in today’s announcement. “Luiz Firmino is a veteran of professional MMA and no stranger to our decagon cage. His addition to a premier title fight against current lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at WSOFNYC makes for an exceptional matchup.”

Gaethje, who’s No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, looks for fifth consecutive title defense. The 28-year-old Grudge Training Center fighter and former NCAA Division I wrestler scored TKO victories over Luis Palomino in a pair of “Fight of the Year” candidates in 2015, and in his lone appearance so far in 2016, he stopped Brian Foster with leg kicks. Ten of his past 11 wins have come via knockout.

Firmino, a 34-year-old Brazilian vet, was riding a six-fight winning streak, which included a CFA title and a string of WSOF wins over ex-UFC fighters (Jacob Volkmann, Tyson Griffin and Caros Fodor). However, in his most recent bout, “The Ultimate Fighter 21” cast member suffered a submission loss to Brian Foster at WSOF 31.

The latest WSOF 34 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (NBC, 4 p.m. ET)

• Champ Justin Gaethje vs. Luiz Firmino – for lightweight title
• Champ Jon Fitch vs. Jake Shields – for welterweight title
• Paul Bradley vs. Yushin Okami
• Champ Marlon Moraes vs. Josenaldo Silva – for bantamweight title

PRELIMINARY CARD (NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET)

• Champ David Branch vs. Louis Taylor – for middleweight title
• Caio Alencar vs. Jared Rosholt

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 1 p.m. ET)

• Shane Kruchten vs. Jeremy Mahon
• Smealinho Rama vs. Jake Heun
• Bruno Santos vs. Vagab Vagabov
• Bruce Boyington vs. Andre Harrison

For more on WSOF 34, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.