Nate Marquardt and
Rousimar Palhares will now anchor
UFC Fight Night 22 on Sept. 15 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, the promotion announced on Tuesday.
MMAJunkie.com was the first to report on Monday that the featured middleweight matchup would be moved from UFC 118’s main card, scheduled for Aug. 28 in Boston, to the new date after
Alan Belcher withdrew from the card last weekend due to a detached retina.
Belcher was to have faced
Demian Maia on Sept. 15; the Brazilian fighter’s name has been removed from the UFC Fight Night 22 roster completely.
Marquardt, a longtime pillar of Jackson’s MMA squad, will look to right the ship following a unanimous decision defeat to
Chael Sonnen at UFC 109 last February in Las Vegas. Prior to that, the 31-year-old Marquardt had reeled off straight wins over Maia,
Wilson Gouveia, and
Martin Kampmann.
Palhares rides a three-fight win streak into his tussle with Marquardt. The 30-year-ols Brazilian Top Team member notched wins against
Jeremy Horn,
Lucio Linhares, and Polish import
Tomasz Drwal, who Palhares submitted with a 45-second heel hook at UFC 111 last March in New Jersey.
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