Veteran UK fighter Brad Pickett has a new opponent for UFC Fight Night 83 in London, England on February 27th after Enrique Briones was forced to pull out due to an injury.
Pickett will now fight Francisco Rivera instead and luckily there’s still five weeks left for both men to prepare for their main card encounter.
For the 37 year-old Pickett this is a crucial fight as he’s lost his last three fights in a row and has picked up just one win in his last five fights – the worst run of his 11 year career so far.
With that in mind this switch in opponent perhaps isn’t ideal as, on paper at least, this looks like a tougher fight to him as the Mexican born Briones has much less Octagon experience than his replacement Rivera who’s ranked No.15 in the division.
That being said, Rivera is actually in a very similar position to Pickett at this moment in time as he too has tasted defeat in three of his last four bouts, so the stakes will be high for both men in London on the night.
UFC Fight Night 83 will be headlined by a high profile middleweight battle between Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping, while Gegard Mousasi Vs Thales Leites serves as the evening’s co-main event.
