Less than a week away from the UFC’s return to Japan, the event has a brand new main event.
Former light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has suffered a knee injury, which forced him out of the headlining fight next weekend. Now former middleweight title contender Yushin Okami will make his return to the Octagon where he faces Ovince Saint-Preux in the new five round main event.
The news was confirmed during the UFC Fight Night broadcast from Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
Okami (34-10) makes an unexpected return to the UFC as a light heavyweight while stepping into a main event on six days notice.
At one time, Okami was a title contender in the UFC’s middleweight division, but in recent years he’s fought at 185 pounds as well as 170 pounds while competing primarily in World Series of Fighting and the Professional Fighters League.
Okami enters the main event on a four-fight win streak including a unanimous decision victory over Andre Lobato in July.
Saint-Preux vs. Okami will headline the event that airs live from Japan on Friday night, Sept. 22 with the card airing live on FXX.
