Rick Story replaces Gunnar Nelson, meets Mike Pyle at UFC 160

An injury has forced Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) out of next month’s UFC 160 event, and Rick Story (15-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has stepped in as his replacement and will fight fellow welterweight Mike Pyle (24-8-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

UFC officials announced the change overnight.

UFC 160 takes place May 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

Story vs. Pyle is expected to be the featured FX prelim.

Story recently knocked out Strikeforce import Quinn Mulhern at UFC 158, and afterward, he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), he wanted a rematch with Jake Ellenberger, whom he defeated in their pre-UFC years. Instead, he’ll get Pyle, who’s currently ranked No. 15 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA welterweight rankings.

Story had won six consecutive UFC fights before back-to-back decision losses to Charlie Brenneman and Martin Kampmann in 2011. Since then, he’s 2-1 with wins over Brock Jardine and Mulhern, and a submission loss to fast-rising contender Demian Maia.

Meanwhile, Pyle looks to build on the strength of an impressive three-fight win streak that includes first-round finishes of James Head, Josh Neer and Ricardo Funch. Currently in one of the best stretches of his professional career, Pyle is 6-1 in his past seven fights with the lone loss coming to top contender Rory MacDonald.

The latest UFC 160 card includes:

• Champ Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva – for heavyweight title
• Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
• James Te Huna vs. Glover Teixeira
• T.J. Grant vs. Gray Maynard
• Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons
• Mike Pyle vs. Rick Story
• Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Abel Trujillo
• Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Stephen Thompson
• Colton Smith vs. Robert Whittaker
• Estevan Payan vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Brian Bowles vs. George Roop
• Dennis Bermudez vs. Max Holloway

For the latest on UFC 160, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Rick Story)