Luis Henrique da Silva expected to fight at UFC Fight Night 107 – just not against Ion Cutelaba

Brazil’s “Frankenstein” had his next assignment in short order with a chance to get back on track following the first loss of his pro career. Then it quickly fell apart.

Luis Henrique da Silva (12-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was set to meet Ion Cutelaba (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) when the UFC returns to Brazil in March for UFC Fight Night 107. But even though the fight was agreed to and all firmed up (but not made official by the UFC), a da Silva team representative today told MMAjunkie a Cutelaba injury forced him out of the fight the same day it was booked earlier this week. Combate.com first brought news of the original booking.

Instead, da Silva is expected to remain on the fight card, but now awaits a new light heavyweight opponent.

UFC Fight Night 107 takes place March 11 at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Combate also recently reported a lightweight fight between Josh Burkman (28-14 MMA, 6-9 UFC) and Michel Prazeres (21-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) for the card.

In December, “Frankenstein” da Silva suffered the first loss of his pro career after a perfect 12-0 start. After a TKO win over Jonathan Wilson at UFC 199 in June 2016 and a submission of Joachim Christensen at UFC Fight Night 96 in October, he was submitted by Paul Craig at UFC on FOX 22 in Sacramento, Calif. Prior to that, all of his wins had come by stoppage.

Now the Brazilian will be trying to get back on track in front of his home fans for the first time since coming to the UFC. His first three fights with the promotion have all been in the United States.

“The Hulk” Cutelaba, who has made a name for himself at the past two ceremonial weigh-in events by painting his body green like the fictional character he’s named for, was hoping to rebound from a decision loss to Jared Cannonier at the TUF 24 Finale in December. The extent of his injury is not known.

The UFC Fight Night 107 lineup now inclues:

• Vitor Belfort vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Edson Barboza vs. Beneil Dariush
• Mauricio Rua vs. Gian Villante
• Josh Burkman vs. Michel Prazeres
• Luis Henrique da Silva vs. TBA

For more on UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.