Ultimate Fighter 17 alum Clint Hester has pulled out of his UFC 163 bout against Cezar Ferreira and replacing Hester will be UFC newcomer Thiago Santos.
UFC officials confirmed the change on Thursday and the new bout will take place on the main card.
UFC 163 takes place on August 3rd from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and will be headlined by Jose Aldo defending the UFC featherweight title against Chan Sung Jung.
Ferreira (5-2) won The Ultimate Fighter Brazil last year and this will be his first fight in the UFC since winning the reality show. He was scheduled to be on the UFC on FX 8 card earlier this month but an injury forced him off the card.
Santos (8-1) will be making his UFC debut in this fight and four of his eight wins have come by TKO/KO. His last two wins have come by TKO in the first round and three of his last four wins are by stoppage.
The current UFC 163: Aldo vs. Jung fight card is below:
Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Jose Aldo (22-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (13-3)
Lyoto Machida (19-3) vs. Phil Davis (11-1, 1NC)
Cezar Ferreira (5-2) vs. Thiago Santos (8-1)
Thales Leites (20-4) vs. Tom Watson (16-5)
John Lineker (21-6) vs. Jose Maria Tome (33-3)
Preliminary Card: (FX – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Vinny Magalhaes (10-6, 1NC) vs. Anthony Perosh (13-7)
Amanda Nunes (7-3) vs. Sheila Gaff (10-5-1)
Sergio Moraes (7-3) vs. Neil Magny (8-2)
Ian McCall (11-4-1) vs. Illiarde Santos (27-7-1, 1NC)
Preliminary Card: (Facebook – 6:35 p.m. ET/3:35 p.m. PT)
Rani Yahya (18-7) vs. Josh Clopton (6-1-1)
Ednaldo Oliveira (13-1-1, 1NC) vs. Francimar Barroso (15-3)
Bristol Marunde (12-8) vs. Viscardi Andrade (13-5)