With Thiago Tavares recently bowing out of a UFC 103 preliminary card matchup due to an injury, Jim Miller (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will now fight UFC newcomer Steve Lopez (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC). MMAjunkie has learned from sources close to the event that both fighters have agreed to the contest, and bout agreements are expected to be distributed shortly.
Featuring a main event between fan-favorites Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort, UFC 103 takes place Sept. 19 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Lopez will be fighting for the first time since October 2008. Prior to the layoff, Lopez had earned an 8-1 record in nine fights during a eight-and-a-half month period.
Lopez has earned eight of his 12 career wins by submission, though his past three victories have all come by decision. Meanwhile, Miller is looking to build on his UFC 100 win over Mac Danzig in July. Prior to the Danzig win, Miller had lost a unanimous-decision to Gray Maynard in March a defeat that snapped an eight-fight winning streak.
With the change, the UFC 103 card appears re-finalized. The full event includes:
MAIN CARD
* Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
* Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
* Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick
* Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
* Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
PRELIMINARY CARD
* Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
* Steve Lopez vs. Jim Miller
* Dan Lauzon vs. Rafaello Oliveira
* Paul Daley vs. Brian Foster
* Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
* Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall
* Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac
* Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson
Meanwhile there are reports that Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang slated for Hyun Kim in works for UFC 105. The UFC’s fall schedule is rapidly filling, and with UFC 103 and 104′s fight cards nearly complete, the organization has turned its attention to UFC 105 in November!
And according to a pair of new reports from Fighters Only magazine, two high-profile fights for the card are nearly signed. According to Fighters Only, Michael Bisping (17-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will likely meet Denis Kang (32-11-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), while Dan Hardy (22-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) are in discussions to meet at the Spike TV-broadcast event in Manchester, England. Bisping was originally expected to face Wanderlei Silva, though a recent surgery has left the “Axe Murderer” on the shelf for the immediate future. With the Brazilian unable to face “The Count,” Bisping will reportedly now meet Kang.
Bisping will be returning to action for the first time since a devastating loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100, while Kang will be looking to build on the momentum of an April win over Xavier Foupa-Pokam. While the now-scrapped Bisping vs. Silva bout was expected to enjoy main event status, the Fighters Only report suggests the new Bisping vs. Kang match will be relegated to co-main event status in favor of a yet-to-be-named “high-profile” matchup.
