Yahoo Sports UFC Halifax Gets New Heavyweight Headliner; Johny Hendricks Moves to Middleweight
After Stefan Struve had to withdraw from the UFC Fight Night 105 main event on Feb. 19 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, UFC officials moved swiftly to name a new heavyweight headliner.
Though matchmakers couldn't find a new opponent for Junior dos Santos, whom Struve was supposed to rematch, they kept the big men in the main event, migrating the Derrick Lewis vs. Travis Browne bout from UFC 208 in Brooklyn to the Canadian card.
In addition to naming Lewis vs. Browne the new headliner, officials also announced that former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks would make his middleweight debut in Halifax. After struggling on the scale at welterweight, Hendricks faces no easy task in his first trip to 185 pounds. He will face former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard.
Other new bouts added to the card include a clash between women's bantamweight contenders Sara McMann and Liz Carmouche, a middleweight fight pitting Ryan Janes against Gerald Meerschaert, and Gavin Tucker vs. Sam Sicilia in featherweight action.
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UFC officials confirmed that injuries have also altered two other bouts. Gilbert Burns and Alvaro Herrera are out of their respective lightweight bouts against Paul Felder and Alessandro Ricci. As a result, Felder, who was supposed to fight Burns at UFC 208, will instead face Ricci in Halifax.
(Weigh-in photo courtesy of Damon Martin, Fox Sports)
