Beniel Dariush-Tony Martin, Walmir Lazaro-James Vick rebooked for UFC Fight Night 49 in Tulsa

The game of musical chairs continues, as a pair of lightweight bouts originally set for UFC 176 have new homes following that event’s cancellation.

Beneil Dariush (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Tony Martin (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will head to UFC Fight Night 49 three weeks after they originally were supposed to meet. Joining them will be lightweights Walmir Lazaro (12-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and James Vick (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who had been booked for UFC 176, as well. UFC officials announced the new date and location for the fights at UFC.com.

UFC Fight Night 49 takes place Aug. 23 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. The event’s main card airs live on FOX Sports 1 after prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

UFC 176 had been set for Aug. 2 at Staples Center in Los Angeles until the promotion pulled the plug on the pay-per-view on Tuesday night, about a week after featherweight champion Jose Aldo was forced out of his main event rematch against Chad Mendes.

Dariush, who fights out of California with Kings MMA, quickly submitted veteran Charlie Brenneman in his UFC debut earlier this year. It pushed the 25-year-old’s perfect start to 7-0 with six stoppages. However, in his most recent bout, he suffered a TKO loss to Ramsey Nijem.

He looks to regroup against Martin, an American Top Team fighter who earned a UFC contract after an 8-0 start to his career. However, in his promotional debut, he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Rashid Magomedov at UFC 169.

Lazaro started his career 1-2 in Brazil, but since then has rattled off 11 straight wins with eight by knockout, including the last three. One of those came against UFC veteran Chris Wilson this past August at Shooto Brazil 42. The 6-foot-tall 28-year-old hasn’t lost in more than four years. He now joins the likes of teammates Jose Aldo and Renan Barao in the UFC.

Vick fought on Season 15 of “The Ultimate Fighter” two years ago. He beat the highly regarded Dakota Cochrane to get into the house, then knocked out the currently surging Daron Cruickshank in his first fight inside the house. He lost to eventual winner Michael Chiesa in the semifinals, and thanks to the knockout setback was unable to compete at the TUF 15 Finale set for June 2012.

His official UFC debut didn’t come for more than a year after that, when he submitted Ramsey Nijem this past August just 58 seconds into their bout at UFC Fight Night 26. Now it will be nearly another year between fights for the Texan.

The latest UFC Fight Night 49 card now includes:

• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Benson Henderson
• Jordan Mein vs. Brandon Thatch
• Timothy Elliott vs. Wilson Reis
• Demian Maia vs. Mike Pyle
• Francis Carmont vs. Thales Leites
• Tom Niinimaki vs. Chas Skelly
• Mirsad Bektic vs. Ernest Chavez
• Matt Hobar vs. Aaron Phillips
• Beneil Dariush vs. Tony Martin
• Walmir Lazaro vs. James Vick

For the latest on the canceled UFC 176, as well as UFC Fight Night 49, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Beneil Dariush)