Jimi Manuwa pulling out has confirmed that UFC Sao Paulo’s main event is cursed.
Originally, Jimi Manuwa was supposed to fight Glover Teixeira in the headliner. However, a shoulder injury forced the Brazillian out of the scrap. So the scramble began.
The matchmakers wanted a Brazilian fighter to headline a Brazilian show, so they went with middleweight Thiago Santos as Teixeira’s replacement. Santos will make his 205 lb debut on the card.
However, at the beginning of fight week, the top of the bill changed again. This time, Manuwa was forced to withdraw. According to ESPN.com’s Ariel Helwani, Manuwa tore his hamstring when he went on a run shortly after making the long haul flight to Brazil. Apparently, doctors are saying the ‘severe tear’ will require six weeks of recovery to repair. Hardly ideal for the 38-year-old.
More info on Manuwa’s withdrawal: per sources, he tore his hamstring shortly after arriving in Brazil. Went for a run after landing and that’s when it happened. Doctors say it’s a severe tear, which is more than 50%. He’s looking at six-week recovery. https://t.co/PR2xF6N7km
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 17, 2018
Changing things up
On very short notice, the UFC had little options to work with. Especially given that light heavyweight is one of their weaker divisions. So they opted to go for another middleweight.
Eryk Anders, fresh off that spectacular knockout of Tim Williams three weeks ago, will move up to fight another man moving up from his own division. ‘Ya Boy’ is 11-1 (3-1) UFC. The former LFA middleweight champion’s sole loss came via split decision to Lyoto Machida in Belem, Brazil. He last fought at UFC Lincoln on August 25.
Santos is 18-6 (10-5 UFC) is coming off a unanimous decision win against Kevin Holland at UFC 227 on August 4.
Technically, both fighters are undefeated at light heavyweight. Someone’s 0 must go in Sao Paulo!
