UFC Fight Night 49’s main card has suffered a double injury blow just a few weeks out from the event in Oklahoma on August 23rd.
Firstly, Demain Maia has pulled out of his fight with Mike Pyle due to an injury, while Brandon Thatch has also had to do likewise ahead of his fight with Jordan Mein.
A quick solution to this is at hand though since they are all welterweights, so rather than find new opponents for them, Pyle and Mein have now been paired together and have been installed as the new co-main event.
Ranked No.13 in the division, Pyle is coming off a TKO win over TJ Waldburger at UFC 170 in February, leaving him with five wins in his last six fight. His only loss during that period came by way of KO against Matt Brown in August of last year.
Mein is 4-2 over the same stretch, including a 2-1 run in the UFC so far since joining the promotion when Strikeforce disbanded. His latest win came over Hernani Perpetuo at a UFC On FOX event in April, and like Pyle, he also picked up a stoppage loss against Matt Brown in 2013.
With the FOX Sports 1 main card now rearranged, UFC Fight Night 49 proceeds with the headline fight between Ben Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos still intact at the top of the bill.
