Anthony Perosh out at UFC Fight Night 43, Gian Villante now meets Sean O'Connell

Injury has forced Australian Anthony Perosh (14-8 MMA, 4-5 UFC) out of next month’s UFC Fight Night 43 event. In his place steps fellow light heavyweight Sean O’Connell (15-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who now faces Gian Villante (11-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC).

UFC officials today announced the switch.

Featuring a middleweight headliner of Nate Marquardt vs. James Te Huna, “UFC Fight Night 43: Te Huna vs. Marquardt” takes place June 28 at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

The entire event streams in the U.S. on UFC Fight Pass, though a bout order has not yet been revealed.

O’Connell made his UFC debut in April, stepping in on one-month’s notice to face Ryan Jimmo at the TUF Nations Finale. Things didn’t go well for “The Real OC,” as he suffered a first-round knockout loss. He’ll look to right the ship with a little bit longer to train this time around.

Villante is coming off a disappointing loss. In March, he went to Brazil and was outhustled in the second and third rounds by Fabio Maldonado. Prior to the that, the New Yorker had a TKO win over Cody Donovan at UFC 167 to get back on track after a decision loss to Ovince St. Preux at UFC 159 in his UFC debut.

Perosh was looking to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader this past December in Australia and avoid his first losing skid since 2006, his first two UFC fights. Prior to the loss to Bader, “The Hippo” was coming off the highlight of his career, a 14-second knockout of Vinny Magalhaes in enemy territory in Brazil at UFC 163 that made up for a seven-second knockout loss to Jimmo at UFC 149 in July 2012.

A timetable for his return wasn’t immediately established.

With the change to the card, the UFC Fight Night 43 lineup now includes:

• Nate Marquardt vs. James Te Huna
• Hatsu Hioki vs. Charles Oliveira
• Vik Grujic vs. Chris Indich
• Robert Whittaker vs. Mike Rhodes
• Sean O’Connell vs. Gian Villante
• Jon Delos Reyes vs. Richie Vaculik

For more on “UFC Fight Night 43: Te Huna vs. Marquardt”, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Sean O’Connell)