Promising featherweight prospect Felipe Arantes (13-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has stepped in to fill a gap in UFC 134's card.
Arantes' managers, Fred Magalhaes and Jorge Patino of Gold Team Fighters, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Arantes has signed with the UFC and will face Yuri Alcantara (24-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at the late-summer event.
Alcantara originally was scheduled to meet Antonio Carvalho, but Magalhaes said the Canadian has been forced to withdraw from the fight.
UFC 134 takes place Aug. 27 at HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro. A middleweight title fight between reigning champ Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami headlines the Brazilian card.
Arantes enters the octagon looking to erase the memory of his previous fight, which took place this past April. The Urban Conflict Championships bout ended in a no-contest after Arantes landed an accidental knee to "The Ultimate Fighter 12" cast member Andy Main. The setback snapped a seven-fight win streak in regional competition.
Alcantara, meanwhile, makes his octagon debut after a sensational start in the now-defunct WEC. The Brazilian took on Ricardo Lamas at lightweight in the promotion's final show, where he earned a blistering first-round knockout that announced his presence with authority.
Afterward, though, Alcantara decided to drop to the featherweight division, where opportunities are aplenty. His manager, Wallid Ismail, said the fighter had to pack on pounds to make lightweight and usually walks around closer to the featherweight limit of 145 pounds.
Alcantara brings an 11-fight win streak into the UFC, though he has yet to face top-tier competition. UFC 134 marks his first fight since his WEC 53 victory in December.
The latest UFC 134 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Champ Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami (for middleweight title)
Forrest Griffin vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub
Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares
David Mitchell vs. Paulo Thiago
PRELIMINARY CARD
Erick Silva vs. Mike Swick
Dan Miller vs. Rousimar Palhares
Felipe Arantes vs. Yuri Alcantara*
Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland
Source: Source: Antonio Carvalho out, Felipe Arantes in against Yuri Alcantara at UFC 134