The injury bug is alive and well.

Jorge Masdival was set to face Siyar Bahadurzada at UFC 201, but due to an illness, the fight was canceled. Ross Pearson has been booked to replace him and go up against Masdival, fighting for the first time in his career as a welterweight. Pearson is coming off of a very close decision loss to former Bellator champion, Will Brooks, and is looking to bounce back quickly. He is facing a fighter in Masdival who is one of the toughest fights in the division and is also coming off of a loss, leaving both fighters in desperate need of a win.

You also have to wonder is Pearson is going to be making the permanent move up to the welterweight division or if this is a one time thing due to it being a short notice bout. Regardless, both men are extremely tough and this fight should be very entertaining.

The other bout that was affected by the injury bug was Dong Hyum Kim, who was set to face Neil Magny in a welterweight bout at UFC 202, but was forced off card due to an unknown injury. Lorenz Larkin has stepped up to take the fight on short notice, coming off of a split decision victory against Masdival.

Larkin has looked fantastic since moving down to the welterweight division, going 3-1 and will be facing a very tough opponent in Magny who has won three straight fights and winning 10 of his last 11. The winner of this fight is guaranteed to get a huge step up in competition and could be just one or two fights away from being a title contender.

About The Author

Jake Schneider
Staff Writer

Jake Schneider is a student at the University of Rhode Island who is currently looking to pursue a double major in Communications and Journalism. He is an MMA fanatic who has been following the sport for years. He began to share his wealth of knowledge and opinions on the sport to many of his family members and friends as well as various MMA forums online. His love and passion for the sport has been able to make many people that are a part of his life fans of mixed martial arts as well. His insight of the sport both inside and outside of the cage is what makes his analysis on fights and individual fighters so well informed.