The tumultuous UFC 133 fight card has undergone another change as former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor Paul Bradley (16-2) will step in on short notice to face Rafael Natal (12-3-1) at the Aug. 6 event in Philadelphia.
News of the matchup was first reported by MMAWeekly.
Natal was scheduled to face Constantinos Philippou, but an injury to Alessio Sakara prompted the UFC to elevate Philippou into a bout against Sakara’s original opponent Jorge Rivera.
Bradley appeared on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and won his preliminary bout to get into the house, but was forced to leave the competition due to a contagious skin infection. Bradley is a Shark Fights and Strikeforce veteran who is currently on a three fight winning streak. He holds notable wins over UFC veterans Johnny Rees and Dante Rivera.
Natal will be looking for his first Octagon win at UFC 133. He last appeared at UFC 124 in a draw with Jesse Bongfeldt, and before that lost his Octagon debut to Rich Attonito. The biggest win of Natal’s career came by knockout over former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Travis Lutter.
UFC 133 will be headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between former champions Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz, as well as a middleweight tilt between Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama.
For complete UFC 133 coverage and live UFC 133 results on Aug. 6 stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
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These fight changes are starting to get out of hand.. You cant depend on a card anymore.. Imagine if GSP or Shields got injured in thier fight at a Canadian stadium.. The canadians would have rioted like… well.. canadians.. LOL
There has got to be a way for these fighters to be given incentive to stick with a fight after a period of time. I think that in the last 30 days, Fighters should not be allowed to withdraw unless there is injury requiering valid surgury.. No more I stubbed my toe last week excuses.. (not saying this one was)
If the fighters know they have a fight in a few weeks then thier training should accomidate that type of situation. train hard but carefully..
Im not saying accidents dont happen, but since that insurace system has started.. accidents have been daily..
If you go look at the link regarding Sakara’s injury (which prompted all of these moves), you’d see it is a torn ACL. In any athletic endeavor, that’s a major injury.
OF COURSE IT IS.. Im not saying that he is BSing or being a baby.. im just saying that the % of guys who drop out weeks before a fight has skyrocketed.. I hope he recovers.. And safley.. For him this was a good move but what about the rest of them.. your telling me there were 30 torn ACL’s in the last few months?
On the other hand, you’re getting more healthy fighters in fights. Guys no longer feel the need to enter the cage at 70% simply because they need the paycheck.