As usual, there’s been a flurry of changes to upcoming UFC cards and we’ll fill you in on several of those here. A new welterweight bout has been added to the UFC on Fox 3 card in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 5th, and it will feature two European fighters: England’s John Hathaway and Germany’s Pascal Krauss. UFC.com reported the booking:
Verbal agreements are in for a match featuring two of Europe’s top welterweights as Germany’s undefeated 10-0 Pascal “Panzer” Krauss will take on England’s 15-1 John “The Hitman” Hathaway May 5 in New Jersey.
Hathaway and Krauss were initially set to fight at last November’s UFC 138 in Hathaway’s native England, but injuries forced both men out of that bout. Both men have been on extensive layoffs due to injuries, with Hathaway last seeing Octagon action last March in a close decision win over Kris McCray, while Krauss has been inactive since November of 2010 when he defeated Mark Scanlon in his UFC debut at UFC 122.
Speaking of injuries, Robert Peralta has suffered one and is now dropping out of his planned rematch with Mackens Semerzier at the UFC on FX 2 card in Sydney, Australia on March 3rd. Both men were hoping for a more decisive ending this time around, after their first bout ended when Semerzier went down from an accidental headbutt and then got finished off by Peralta, although the result was later change to a No Contest. Instead, Semerzier will now face Houston-based featherweight, Daniel Pineda, who scored a quick submission victory over Pat Schilling in his UFC debut in Nashville a few weeks back.
Finally, highly-touted Cuban lightweight prospect Yoislandy Izquierdo has been forced out of his UFC debut at UFC on Fuel 1 next weekend in Omaha as a result of a contract dispute with the CFA, the South Florida promotion for whom Izquierdo formerly competed. Izquierdo’s scheduled opponent, Australia-based BJJ black belt Bernardo Magalhaes, will still get the chance to make his UFC debut against a fellow newcomer in Tim Means, a New Mexico native who has held both the lighweight and welterweight titles in King of the Cage, and brings an aggressive striking game and a nine-fight unbeaten streak to the Octagon. The bout was made official by the UFC late last week.