Ryan Spann Out, Sam Alvey in against Jim Crute at UFC 234

With Ryan Spann out, Jim Crute (@CruteJim) now faces Sam Alvey (@smilensam) at UFC 234 in Australia (per @newscomauHQ) #UFC pic.twitter.com/BPQRwLxpvR

— Nolan King (@mma_kings) January 25, 2019

With Ryan Spann pulling out of his bout against Jim Crute, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has done some quick reshuffling for UFC 234, where Spann has been replaced by Sam Alvey.

According to Crute during an interview from Australian newspaper Herald Sun on Friday, light heavyweight Spann has been forced to withdraw from his bout against Jim Crute (9-0) at UFC 234 on Feb. 9 due to a broken hand. Replacing him will be Team Quest representative Alvey (33-11, 1 NC).

The undefeated Crute has split his method of victory in his nine career bouts, with three knockouts, three submissions and three decisions to his credit. He made his successful Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 142 in December 2018 against Paul Craig, winning by kimura with just nine seconds remaining and earning one of the latest submissions in a three-round bout in UFC history.

Alvey was previously scheduled to face Gadzhimurad Antigulov at UFC Fight Night 145 in Prague, but stepped up to take on a new opponent in just over two weeks. Appearing 16 times since making his promotional debut in August 2014, Sam Alvey has made a name for being one of the most active fighters on the UFC roster, competing six times over the span of April 2016 to April 2017. Alvey is looking to rebound off of the second knockout loss in his career, as he lost by knockout to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 137 in September 2018.

UFC 234 is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum on Feb. 9 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Co-headlining the event will be a pivotal middleweight tilt pitting Israel Adesanya against Anderson Silva.