Following Robert Drysdale being denied a license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for UFC 167, Cody Donovan will now meet Gian Villante on the November 16th card.
UFC officials announced the new fight on Tuesday afternoon and the fight will be apart of the preliminary card.
UFC 167 takes place on November 16th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by Georges St-Pierre defending the UFC welterweight title against Johny Hendricks.
Villante (10-4) made his UFC debut earlier this ear and lost a majority decision to Ovince St. Preux following an eye poke in the third round. The defeat snapped a three fight losing streak and it was his first defeat since 2011.
Donovan (8-3) won his UFC debut in late 2012 against Nick Penner at UFC on FX 6 and the bout won the fight of the night bonus. It was his fourth straight victory and his winning streak would be snapped at UFC Fight Night 26 as he was defeated by knockout in the first round against Ovince St. Preux.
Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Georges St-Pierre (24-2) vs. Johny Hendricks (15-1)
Chael Sonnen (29-13-1) vs. Rashad Evans (18-3-1)
Rory MacDonald (15-1) vs. Robbie Lawler (21-9, 1NC)
Josh Koscheck (17-7) vs. Tyron Woodley (11-2)
Ali Bagautinov (11-2) vs. Tim Elliott (10-3-1)
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Donald Cerrone (20-6, 1NC) vs. Evan Dunham (14-4)
Ed Herman (21-9, 1NC) vs. Thales Leites (21-4)
Rick Story (15-7) vs. Brian Ebersole (50-15-1)
Erik Perez (13-5) vs. Edwin Figueroa (9-3)
Preliminary Card: (Facebook – 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT)
Jason High (17-4) vs. Anthony Lapsley (22-5, 2NC)
Sergio Pettis (9-0) vs. Vaughan Lee (13-9-1)
Gian Villante (10-4) vs. Cody Donovan (8-3)