UFC middleweight Derek Brunson is out of his matchup with Jack Hermansson, but the promotion has quickly found a replacement.
Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) was set to meet Hermansson (23-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3, but is unable to compete due to an undisclosed injury. According to an ESPN report, all is not lost for Hermansson, who will now face Roman Dolidze instead.
UFC on ESPN 42 takes place at Amway Center in Orlando Fla., and is headlined by a welterweight matchup between former title challenger Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland.
Dolidze (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will aim to close out an impressive 2022 campaign by stretching his current win streak to four. In June, Dolidze stopped Kyle Daukaus in the first round, and followed up that performance with another first-round stoppage against Phil Hawes in October. Dolidze will now step in for arguably the toughest test of his career.
Hermansson (23-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) gets to keep his planned date, but with a new opponent. In July, the Swede defeated Chris Curtis by unanimous decision to get back into the win column after dropping a close split decision to Sean Strickland in February.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 42 lineup now includes:
- Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Bryan Barberena
- Roman Dolidze vs. Jack Hermansson
- Matheus Nicolau vs. Matt Schnell
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Niko Price vs. Phil Rowe
- Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdez
- Francis Marshall vs. Marcelo Rojo
- Tracy Cortez vs. Amanda Ribas
- Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus
- Marc Diakiese vs. Michael Johnson
- Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman
- Emily Ducote vs. Angela Hill
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Istela Nunes
