UFC Fight Night 99 has a new headline attraction after main event fighter Gunnar Nelson was forced out of his fight with Dong Hyun Kim due to an injury.
Rather than looking for a new opponent for Kim to lead the show, the promotion have opted to scrap that bout altogether and instead draft in a new middleweight main event for the November 19th show in Belfast, Northern Ireland that will see Gegard Mousasi earn a rematch with Uriah Hall.
These two previously met at UFC Fight Night 75 in September of last year, with Mousasi seeming to have the upperhand in the bout until early in the second round when he was caught off-guard by a spinning back-kick that rocked him, with a flying knee and follow-up punches sealing Hall’s TKO victory.
Since then Hall has failed to capitalize on that big win over the former Strikeforce 205lb champion, suffering back-to-back losses against Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson.
On the other hand, Mousasi has put that slip-up behind him by compiling a three fight winning streak against Thales Leites, Thiago Santos and most recently a big TKO win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 204 earlier this month.
That’s left Mousasi placed at No.5 in the middleweight rankings, while Hall currently resides at No.10 heading into their rematch.
So, with Mousasi Vs Hall II now installed at the top of the bill, UFC Fight Night 99 now proceeds with a card that also features Ross Pearson Vs James Krause and Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall Vs Neil Seery.