Felipe Arantes replaces Godofredo Pepey, meets Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 28

With Godofredo Pepey (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) forced to bow out of a planned meeting with featherweight Sam Sicilia (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), Felipe Arantes (15-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC) has agreed to take place at September’s “UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader” event.

UFC officials today announced the new matchup.

Featuring a light-heavyweight headliner between Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader, UFC Fight Night 28 (formerly know as UFC on FOX Sports 1 3) takes place Sept. 4 at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The evening’s main cards airs on FOX Sports 1. Arantes vs. Sicilia is expected to take place on the preliminary portion of the card.

The 25-year-old Arantes made his debut in 2011 and suffered a decision loss to Yuri Alcantara. He’s since bounced back with a pair of wins, including one over Pepey and another aover Antonio Carvalho, sandwiched around a split-draw result against Milton Vieira. All four of his UFC appearances to date have taken place in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Sicilia is badly in need of a win after back-to-back losses to Rony Bezerra at UFC 153 and Maximo Blanco at the TUF 17 Finale in April. The “TUF 15? product started his UFC career with a win over Cristiano Marcello at the TUF 15 Finale in June 2012, but hasn’t won since.

The UFC Fight Night 28 card now includes:

• Ryan Bader vs. Glover Teixeira
• Yushin Okami vs. Ronaldo Souza
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier Formiga
• Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
• Ali Bagautinov vs. Marcos Vinicius
• Johnny Bedford vs. Hugo Viana
• Felipe Arantes vs. Sam Sicilia
• Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Keith Wisniewski
• Ramiro Hernandez vs. Lucas Martins
• Sean Spencer vs. Yuri Villefort

For the latest on UFC Fight Night 28, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Felipe Arantes)