Ross Pearson moves up, replaces Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 201
By:
Dann Stupp
| July 13, 2016 3:00 pm
Ross Pearson
is looking for a quick turnaround – while doing so in a new weight class.
As MMAjunkie first reported on Tuesday,
Siyar Bahadurzada
(22-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was
recently forced out
of his UFC 201 bout with
Jorge Masvidal
(29-11 MMA, 6-4 UFC) due to an illness. Lightweight Pearson (19-11 MMA, 11-8 UFC) has agreed to move up a weight class to fill in,
ESPN.com
‘s Brett Okamoto today reported.
UFC 201 takes place July 30 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.
Pearson fought this past week at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale and
suffered a unanimous-decision loss
to former Bellator lightweight champ and promotional newcomer Will Brooks. Pearson, who’s previously competed at lightweight and featherweight, has alternated wins and losses over his past nine bouts. The 31-year-old winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 9” looks to avoid the first back-to-back losses of his career.
Masvidal, meanwhile, suffered a split-decision defeat to Loren Larkin in May and is now 1-3 over his past four fights; however, all of the losses (to Larkin, Benson Henderson and Al Iaquinta) have come via split decision. The 31-year-old hasn’t been finished in a fight in more than seven years.
With the change to the card, the UFC 201 lineup now includes:
Champ Robbie Lawler vs. Tyron Woodley – for welterweight title
Wilson Reis vs. opponent TBA
Matt Brown vs. Jake Ellenberger
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Rose Namajunas
Ed Herman vs. Nikita Krylov
Jorge Masvidal vs. Ross Pearson
Erik Perez vs. Francisco Rivera
Michael Graves vs. Bojan Velickovic
Damian Grabowski vs. Anthony Hamilton
Cesar Arzamendia vs. Damien Brown
Ian McCall vs. Justin Scoggins
For more on
UFC 201
, stay tuned to the
UFC Rumors
section of the site.
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