A bantamweight bout between T.J. Dillashaw (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Hugo Viana (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has been promoted from the Facebook-streamed preliminary card to the FX-televised prelims at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 7 event.
As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported over the weekend, Jon Tuck (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) recently suffered an injury, and officials canceled his bout with lightweight Norman Parke (17-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC). Overnight, Dillashaw vs. Viana was promoted to its spot on the FX broadcast.
UFC on FOX 7 takes place at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on FOX with a headliner between UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson and final Strikeforce titleholder Gilbert Melendez.
Dillashaw is currently ranked No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA bantamweight rankings. Since a runner-up finish on “The Ultimate Fighter 14,” the former collegiate wrestler and current Team Alpha Male fighter has posted consecutive wins over Walel Watson, Vaughan Lee and Issei Tamura.
Meanwhile, Viana, a semifinalist on “TUF: Brazil,” picked up a split-decision victory over John Teixeira in his official UFC debut this past year. The Brazilian then dropped down from featherweight and followed it with a knockout win over bantamweight Reuben Duran.
The full UFC on FOX 7 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 5 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 4 p.m. ET)
For more on UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Hugo Viana)
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