Derek Brunson injured, Roman Dolidze steps in to face Jack Hermansson on Dec. 3
UFC middleweight Derek Brunson is out of his matchup with Jack Hermansson, but the promotion has quickly found a replacement.
Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) was set to meet Hermansson (23-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3, but is unable to compete due to an undisclosed injury. According to an ESPN report, all is not lost for Hermansson, who will now face Roman Dolidze instead.
UFC on ESPN 42 takes place at Amway Center in Orlando Fla., and is headlined by a welterweight matchup between former title challenger Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland.
Dolidze (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will aim to close out an impressive 2022 campaign by stretching his current win streak to four. In June, Dolidze stopped Kyle Daukaus in the first round, and followed up that performance with another first-round stoppage against Phil Hawes in October. Dolidze will now step in for arguably the toughest test of his career.
Hermansson (23-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) gets to keep his planned date, but with a new opponent. In July, the Swede defeated Chris Curtis by unanimous decision to get back into the win column after dropping a close split decision to Sean Strickland in February.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 42 lineup now includes:
Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Bryan Barberena
Roman Dolidze vs. Jack Hermansson
Matheus Nicolau vs. Matt Schnell
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tai Tuivasa
Niko Price vs. Phil Rowe
Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdez
Francis Marshall vs. Marcelo Rojo
Tracy Cortez vs. Amanda Ribas
Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce
Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus
Marc Diakiese vs. Michael Johnson
Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman
Emily Ducote vs. Angela Hill
Yazmin Jauregui vs. Istela Nunes
