Broken hand knocks Francisco Rivera from UFC 170 fight with Raphael Assuncao
Raphael Assuncao apparently will be hoping for a new opponent for UFC 170 on less than three weeks’ notice.
Assuncao (21-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Monday tweeted that his opponent for the card later this month, Francisco Rivera (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), is out with a broken hand. He put out the call to Twitter to ask whom people would like him to fight instead.
The UFC has not yet made a formal announcement of the injury or if a replacement will be sought for Rivera.
UFC 170 takes place Feb. 22 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card, featuring a women’s bantamweight title fight between champ Ronda Rousey and top contender Sara McMann, airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Assuncao has won five straight fights since dropping from featherweight to 135 pounds in 2011. That move followed a knockout loss to Erik Koch in his UFC debut at UFC 128 after moving over from the UFC. The move to bantamweight has proven to be a good one for the Georgia-based Brazilian, who has a trio of decision wins and a pair of stoppages in his current run. This past October in Brazil, he picked up a “Fight of the Night†split-decision victory over T.J. Dillashaw.
Rivera was looking to extend his unbeaten streak to six fights. He has found mostly success since dropping to bantamweight, as well. Although he lost his debut in the weight class at the TUF 13 Finale in 2011, he has gone 5-0 with a no-contest since then. The no-contest came after a win over Roland Delorme at UFC 149, but Rivera tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended by the UFC. After returning, he has won back-to-back fights by TKO over Edwin Figueroa and George Roop.
Assucao is ranked No. 7, while Rivera is an Honorable Mention in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings.
With the change, the UFC 170 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann – for women’s bantamweight title
Daniel Cormier vs. Rashad Evans
Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
Stephen Thompson vs. Robert Whittaker
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rustam Khabilov
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Alexis Davis vs. Jessica Eye
Raphael Assuncao vs. TBA
Lucas Martins vs. Aljamain Sterling
Mike Pyle vs. T.J. Waldburger
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Zach Makovsky vs. Josh Sampo
Erik Koch vs. Rafaello Oliveira
