Thales Leites replaces Rafael Natal, faces Ed Herman at UFC 167

In the wake of a middleweight shuffle that left Ed Herman (21-9 MMA, 8-5 UFC) without an opponent at UFC 167, Thales Leites (21-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has stepped up to fight.

The onetime middleweight title challenger will meet Herman on the Nov. 16 card, according to “UFC Tonight” and sources close to the promotion, who confirmed the matchup to MMAjunkie.com.

UFC 167 takes place Nov. 16 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. It’s unknown whether Herman vs. Leites will serve on the FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary card or the Facebook-streamed early prelims.

Rafael Natal was Herman’s originally scheduled opponent, but was pulled from the bout to replace Lyoto Machida in a matchup against Tim Kennedy at “UFC Fight Night 31: UFC Fight for the Troops 3,” which takes place Nov. 6 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The shuffle was initiated when ex-champ Machida was tapped to fight Mark Munoz UFC Fight Night 30 after Michael Bisping withdrew from the Oct. 26 event with an eye injury. Machida and Munoz headline the card at Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, England.

Herman most recently fought at UFC on FOX 8, where he earned a split call over Trevor Smith in a three-round slugfest. The win got him back on the right track following a first-round submission loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner.

Leites recently returned to the octagon after a four-year absence when he took on Tom Watson at UFC 163. After three rounds, he was declared the winner by unanimous decision, which improved his current win streak to four fights.

For more on UFC 167, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Thales Leites)