Josh Samman Replaces Nick Ring At UFC On Fox Sports 1: Shogun Vs. Sonnen
Josh Samman will replace Nick Ring at UFC on Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen, officials said Monday.
Ring(13-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) was supposed to face The Ultimate Fighter contestant Uriah Hall (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout, but was forced to withdraw from the card. Samman (10-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who was also a contestant on season 17 of TUF this past spring, stepped in to face his former cast mate. Samman and Hall both made it to the semifinals and were expected to fight during the TUF finale, but only Hall made it to the finals, losing his bout with Kelvin Gastelum (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) by split decision.
Gastelum is currently scheduled to fight Paulo Thiago (15-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) at UFC on Fox Sports 1: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 on August 28 in Indianapolis.
UFC on Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen marks the second time the promotion has held an event in Boston. The last time was for UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 on August 28, 2010. Shogun vs. Sonnen, which marks the launch of Fox Sports 1, was temporarily jeopardized by a Massachusetts law that requires fighters to have a valid social security number in order to compete. Generally, only American citizens are given social security numbers, but foreign fighters can apply if they have a legitimate visa.
The law was in place in 2010, but the state’s athletic commission was unaware of it at that time. But when the requirement came up this time, UFC officials scrambled to make sure all fighters involved met the state’s requirement. President Dana White said that everything worked out in the end, and that the promotion has gotten used to dealing with issue like the social security number requirement.
UFC on Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen will be held August 17 at the TD Garden. The main card now consists of:
- Mauricio Rua vs. Chael Sonnen
- Travis Browne vs. Alistair Overeem
- Yuri Alcantara vs. Urijah Faber
- Thiago Alves vs. Matt Brown
- Uriah Hall vs. Josh Samman*
- Michael “The Menace” Johnson vs. Joe Lauzon
Are you excited for UFC On Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen?
