Jonathan Wilson signs with UFC, replaces Gian Villante at UFC 181 and meets Corey Anderson

An undisclosed injury has forced Gian Villante to pull out of his UFC 181 bout against Corey Anderson and taking Villante’s spot in the bout will be UFC newcomer Jonathan Wilson.UFC 181 Poster

The new fight booking was announced by the UFC on Tuesday.

UFC 181 will come from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a title rematch as Johny Hendricks defends the UFC welterweight title against Robbie Lawler.

Wilson (6-0) turned professional last year and five of his wins have come by TKO/KO. His last win came in August as he defeated Daniel Ynojos at Gladiator Challenge by knockout in 50 seconds.

Anderson (4-0) was a member of Team Edgar during The Ultimate Fighter 19 and defeated Matt Van Buren at the live finale to win the light heavyweight tournament. He won the fight by TKO in the first round and it was his third victory to come by TKO in the opening round.

The current UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II fight card is below.

Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Johny Hendricks (16-2) vs. Robbie Lawler (24-10, 1NC)
Anthony Pettis (17-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (22-3)
Travis Browne (16-2-1) vs. Brendan Schaub (10-4)
Raquel Pennington (4-4) vs. TBA
Tony Ferguson (16-3) vs. Abel Trujillo (12-5, 1NC)

Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Urijah Faber (31-7) vs. Francisco Rivera (10-3, 1NC)
Eddie Gordon (7-1) vs. Josh Samman (10-2)
Corey Anderson (4-0) vs. Jonathan Wilson (6-0)
Todd Duffee (8-2) vs. Anthony Hamilton (12-3)

Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Sergio Pettis (11-1) vs. Matt Hobar (9-2)
Alex White (10-1) vs. Clay Collard (13-5, 1NC)