The UFC Fight Night 99 event in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 19th has experienced another significant change after co-main event fighter James Krause pulled out of his fight with Ross Pearson due to an injury.
The UFC have managed to draft in a replacement to keep Pearson on the card however, with Scotland’s Stevie Ray stepping in on just over three weeks notice for his biggest fight to date.
A former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, the 26 year-old Ray has so far compiled a 3-1 record in the UFC, with his only loss coming last time out against Brazil’s Alan Patrick, who earned a unanimous decision in their fight back in September.
Meanwhile, Pearson is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, having initially lost out on the scorecards to Will Brooks in early July, then attempted to get back to winning ways just a few weeks later in a short notice welterweight fight with Jorge Masvidal, which resulted in another decision loss.
Prior to that the 32 year-old had been alternating between wins and losses for a couple of years, so he’ll be hoping that he can start to find some more stability in the UFC, starting with this fight against Ray.
With Pearson Vs Ray confirmed, UFC Fight Night 99 proceeds with Gegard Mousasi Vs Uriah Hall now installed as the main event of the evening after the initial headliner between Gunnar Nelson and Dong Hyun Kim was scrapped due to another injury.
