Nik Lentz replaces Manny Gamburyan, meets Hacran Dias at UFC on FX 8

Manny Gamburyan’s injury woes continue, and he has been forced out of May’s UFC on FX 8 event. In his place steps Nik Lentz (23-5-2 MMA, 7-2-1), who now meets Brazilian Hacran Dias (21-1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

UFC officials today announced the switch.

UFC on FX 8 takes place May 18 at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul. The event’s main card airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook. The main event is a middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort (22-10 MMA, 11-6 UFC) and final Strikeforce 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

Lentz returns to work after a decision win over Diego Nunes at this past January’s UFC on FX 7 event, which also took place in Brazil. “The Carny” is 2-0 at featherweight since dropping down from 155 pounds.

Meanwhile, Dias makes his first appearance since winning a unanimous decision over Yuri Alcantara in June 2012. “Barnabe” was expected to face top 145-pounder Chad Mendes this past December before injury forced Dias out of the fight and off the card.

Gamburyan fought most recently at this past August’s UFC on FOX 4 event, where he earned a decision win over Michihiro Omigawa. Gamburyan was also supposed to fight Mendes in a scheduled February fight at UFC 157, but “The Anvil” was also injured in that camp and forced to withdraw from the card.

A timetable for Gamburyan’s return wasn’t immediately available.

With the change, the UFC on FX 8 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (FX, 9 p.m. ET)

• Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold
• Constantinos Philippou vs. Ronaldo Souza
• C.B. Dollaway vs. Cezar Ferreira
• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Evan Dunham

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV, 6 p.m. ET)

• Hacran Dias vs. Nik Lentz
• Mike Rio vs. Francisco Trinaldo
• Yuri Alcantara vs. Marcos Vinícius
• Lance Benoist vs. Paulo Thiago
• Azamat Gashimov vs. John Lineker
• Roger Hollet vs. Fabio Maldonado

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 4:30 p.m. ET)

• John Cholish vs. Gleison Tibau
• Chris Cariaso vs. Jussier Formiga
• Jeremy Larsen vs. Lucas Martins

For the latest on UFC on FX 8, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Nik Lentz)