Michael Johnson replaces Ross Pearson, meets Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 37

Michael Johnson (14-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) continues to volunteer for every lightweight fight available, and this time, the UFC granted his wish.

UFC officials today announced that Johnson has replaced an injured Ross Pearson (15-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and will meet former Blackzilians teammate Melvin Guillard (31-12-2 MMA, 12-8 UFC) in the co-main event of March’s UFC Fight Night 37 event.

Featuring a light heavyweight fight between Alexander Gustafsson and Jimi Manuwa in the night’s headliner, UFC Fight Night 37 takes place March 8 at London’s O2 Arena. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

Johnson, a finalist on “The Ultimate Fighter 12? had his career briefly derailed a bit by back-to-back losses to Reza Madadi and Myles Jury. However, he’s looked scintillating in the wins over Gleison Tibau and Joe Lauzon and recently volunteered for contests against Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, as well.

Instead, he’ll meet “The Young Assassin,” whose most recent appearance was a disappointing no contest result against Pearson. Prior to that, Guillard earned a crushing knockout of MAc Danzig in a July 2013 appearance.

A knee injury is to blame for Pearson’s removal from the card. A timetable for his return wasn’t immediately established.

With the change to the lineup, UFC Fight Night 37 now includes:

• Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jimi Manuwa
• Melvin Guillard vs. Michael Johnson
• Cyrille Diabate vs. Ilir Latifi
• Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
• Omari Akhmedov vs. Gunnar Nelson
• Igor Araujo vs. Danny Mitchell
• Brad Scott vs. Claudio Henrique da Silva
• Luke Barnatt vs. Mats Nilsson
• Louis Gaudinot vs. Phil Harris
• Roland Delorme vs. Davey Grant

For more on the UFC Fight Night 37, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Michael Johnson)