MMA
13th Jul 2016
Once it emerged on Tuesday evening that the UFC were seeking a new opponent for Neil Magny for UFC 202, all signs pointed towards the Icelandic welterweight.
Dong Hyun Kim was forced out of the August 20 bout with an injury and the fact that Nelson would make the perfect stand-in was not lost on fight fans.
SBG men could be taking over the #UFC202 card once again https://t.co/3zzq2FfiyT
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 13, 2016
Nelson, whose SBG teammates Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov also fight on the card, would presumably have welcomed the chance to take on the seventh-ranked 170 lber in the world.
But the UFC went in a different direction, electing instead to give Lorenz Larkin the fight, according to a report from MMA Fighting.
Larkin earned the biggest victory of his UFC career when he scored a split decision win over Jorge Masvidal in May and will be hopeful of a top-15 ranking with a victory over Magny.
Larkin has gone 3-1 since dropping to welterweight at the start of 2015 but getting past Magny, who is 10-1 since 2014, is no easy task.
Here is the updated UFC 202 card.
Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira
Donald Cerrone vs. Rick Story
Carlos Condit vs. Demian Maia
Neil Magny vs. Lorenz Larkin
Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Tim Means vs. Sean Strickland
Alberto Uda vs. Marvin Vettor
Artem Lobov vs. Chris Avila
