Saparbek Safarov, J.J. Aldrich set as injury replacements at UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany

A week before the event, next week’s UFC Fight Night 102 card has a pair of injury replacements.

With Patrick Cummins (8-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) out with a staph infection, promotional newcomer Saparbek Safarov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step in to take on Gian Villante (14-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in a light heavyweight bout on the main card.

And with Tatiana Suarez (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) out of her fight against Juliana Lima (8-3 MMA 2-2 UFC), Lima now will fight J.J. Aldrich (4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a women’s strawweight bout on the prelims.

UFC officials announced the changes today. UFC Fight Night 102 takes place Dec. 9 at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Safarov, from Russia, is unbeaten and has all eight of his wins by stoppage with six knockouts and a pair of submissions. In April, he picked up a TKO win over UFC and Bellator veteran Rodney Wallace in Russia.

Villante will be looking to rebound from a March decision loss to Ilir Latifi at UFC 196 in Las Vegas. Prior to that, a knockout of Anthony Perosh at UFC 193 got him back in the win column following a knockout loss to Tom Lawlor in July 2015. Still, he has wins in three of his past five fights – including two “Fight of the Night” wins.

Lima (8-3 MMA 2-2 UFC), who’s ranked No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, is looking to rebound from an April loss to Carla Esparza. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak.

Aldrich will be making her UFC debut a little more than two years into her pro career, which has included a 3-1 mark under the Invicta FC banner. She has three straight wins, including a unanimous decision over Lynn Alvarez at Invicta FC 20 just two weeks ago.

With the changes, the latest UFC Fight Night 102 card now includes:

• Derrick Lewis vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov
• Anthony Hamilton vs. Francis Ngannou
• Saparbek Safarov vs. Gian Villante
• Corey Anderson vs. Sean O’Connell
• Justine Kish vs. Ashley Yoder
• Randy Brown vs. Brian Camozzi
• Joe Gigliotti vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Andrew Sanchez vs. Trevor Smith
• Shane Burgos vs. Tiago Trator
• Marc Diakiese vs. Frankie Perez
• Keith Berish vs. Ryan Janes
• J.J. Aldrich vs. Juliana Lima

For more on UFC Fight Night 102, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.