Abel Trujillo gets new opponent for UFC 169 main card
With Bobby Green out (22-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Abel Trujillo (11-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has a new opponent for February’s UFC 169 event: fellow lightweight Jamie Varner (21-8-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC).
UFC officials today announced the change, though a reason wasn’t given for Green’s withdrawal.
UFC 169 takes place on Feb. 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card, which kicks off with Trujillo vs. Varner, airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and MMAjunkie.
Varner looks to rebound from a split-decision defeat to Gleison Tibau at UFC 164. Prior to the setback, the former WEC champion was on a 4-1 run that included an upset knockout win over Edson Barboza and a split-decision victory over Melvin Guillard. He was then slated to fight Pat Healy earlier this month at UFC on FOX 9 but pulled out of the bout with an injury.
Trujillo, meanwhile, was on his way to a “Knockout of the Night†bonus at UFC on FOX 9 before Demetrious Johnson stopped Joseph Benavidez in the main event. But he still picked up a big win in his rematch with Roger Bowling, a fight that was payback after a controversial no-contest in August. The win over Bowling officially got the Blackzilian Trujillo back on track after a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in May.
The official UFC 169 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Dominick Cruz vs. interim champ Renan Barao – bantamweight title unification bout
Champ Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas – for featherweight title
Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem
Ali Bagautinov vs. John Lineker
Abel Trujillo vs. Jamie Varner
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick
Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Nick Catone vs. Tom Watson
Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Andy Enz vs. Clint Hester
Rashid Magomedov vs. Tony Martin
Neil Magny vs. Gasan Umalatov
