Josh Thomson vs. Tony Ferguson elevated to co-main event of UFC Fight Night 71

Next week’s UFC Fight Night 71 fight card has a new co-main event as Al Iaquinta is no longer on the card following the suspension of Gilbert Melendez and the new co-main event will be the previously scheduled bout between Josh Thomson and Tony Ferguson.UFC-Fight-Night-Logo

UFC officials announced the change on Monday afternoon.

UFC Fight Night 71 will come from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California on July 15 and will be headlined by a heavyweight bout as former UFC champion Frank Mir meets Todd Duffee.

With Iaquinta being off the card, the fight card will go forward with twelve fights and the current fight card lineup is below.

Main Card: (Fox Sports 1 – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Frank Mir (17-9) vs. Todd Duffee (9-2)
Josh Thomson (20-7, 1NC) vs. Tony Ferguson (18-3)
Holly Holm (8-0) vs. Marion Reneau (6-1)
Kevin Lee (10-1) vs. James Moontasri (8-2)
Alan Jouban (11-3) vs. Matt Dwyer (8-2)

Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Sam Sicilia (14-5) vs. Yaotzin Meza (21-9, 1NC)
Jessica Andrade (12-4) vs. Sarah Moras (4-1)
Scott Jorgensen (15-10) vs. Manny Gamburyan (14-8, 1NC)
Rani Yahya (20-8, 1NC) vs. Masanori Kanehara (24-11-5)

Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass – 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT)
Igor Araujo (25-7, 1NC) vs. Sean Strickland (15-1)
Kevin Casey (8-3, 1NC) vs. Ildemar Alcantara (21-7)
Andrew Craig (9-3) vs. Lyman Good (18-3, 1NC)