In one of the most anticipated rematch fights of the year, Thiago Alves was forced off of the UFC 111 fight card against Jon Fitch due to a pre-fight CAT scan that revealed a potentially dangerous issue with the fighter’s brain. Although it was a hard last minute decision, doctors decided to pull him out of the card for the fighter’s safety.
It didn’t take too long to replace ATT fighter Alves as Ben Saunders stepped in as a late replacement. Saunders was already scheduled to face Jake Ellenberger, but was willing to change opponent if the UFC really needed him. Ellenberger will be receiving a full paycheck even though he was completely scrapped from the UFC 11 fight card. Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes was moved up to the main fight card.
Here’s how the UFC 111 fight card will look now:
Main Fight Card: (aired on PPV)
- Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for Welterweight Title)
- Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (for Interim Heavyweight Title)
- Fabricio Camoes vs. Kurt Pellegrino
- Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders
- Mark Bocek vs. Jim Miller
Preliminary Fight Card: (may not be aired)
- Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
- Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
- Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace
- Tomasz Drwal vs. Rousimar Palhares
- Greg Soto vs. Matthew Riddle
