In injury reshuffling, Jordan Mein now meets Mike Pyle at UFC Fight Night 49
A pair of recent injuries caused some reshuffling of the UFC’s return to Tulsa later this month, and a new matchup has the card once again complete.
With Demian Maia (19-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) out of his bout against Mike Pyle (26-9-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC), and Brandon Thatch (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) out of his fight against Jordan Mein (28-9 MMA, 2-1 UFC), Pyle and Mein now will face each other.
UFC officials announced the new booking on Wednesday afternoon at UFC.com.
UFC Fight Night 49 takes place Aug. 23 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. FOX Sports 1 carries the main card, while FOX Sports 2 and UFC Fight Pass carry the prelims. The event is the UFC’s first show in Oklahoma since UFC Fight Night 19 in 2009 and the first in Tulsa since UFC 4 in 1994.
Mein got back on track in April when he took a split decision from Hernani Perpetuo at UFC on FOX 11 in Orlando. That was his first fight in a year after a TKO loss to Matt Brown at UFC on FOX 7, which snapped a three-fight winning streak for the 24-year-old Canadian. Pyle will be Mein’s third opponent on the card. He originally was booked to face Thiago Alves, who had to pull out with an injury. Then replacement Brandon Thatch was forced out with a toe injury.
Pyle got back in the win column earlier this year, as well, with a third-round TKO of T.J. Waldburger at UFC 170 in his home city of Las Vegas. He also had a loss to Brown he needed to rebound from after falling to the welterweight contender in 29 seconds at UFC FIght Night 26 nearly a year ago. That loss snapped a four-fight streak for him that included three knockouts.
It has not yet been announced which preliminary card fight, if any, will move up the lineup onto the main card, or if the main lineup will go forward with five fights instead of six, as originally planned.
The UFC Fight Night 49 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Benson Henderson
Francis Carmont vs. Thales Leites
Jordan Mein vs. Mike Pyle
Mirsad Bektic vs. Max Holloway
Tom Niinimaki vs. Chas Skelly
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 2, 8 p.m. ET)
Alex Garcia vs. Neil Magny
Timothy Elliott vs. Wilson Reis
Walmir Lazaro vs. James Vick
Beneil Dariush vs. Tony Martin
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Matt Hobar vs. Aaron Phillips
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