Now that Matt Hamill is on a "Rampage" in the light heavyweight division, the promotion has dipped into the 205-pound reserves to call up the unflappable Jason Brilz to replace him against Phil Davis at UFC 129 on April 30 in Toronto.
Sherdog.com brought word of the pending match-up yesterday evening.
Davis is coming off a "wonderful" performance against Tim Boetsch at UFC 123: "Rampage vs. Machida" back in November, sending "The Barbarian" back to the stone age via second round Philmura.
The victory was the eighth straight for the NCAA champion and four-time All American out of Harrisburg, PA. In addition to Boetsch, Davis steamrolled Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson and Rodney Wallace under the UFC banner following his 2010 debut.
Is Brilz a roadblock to his continued success -- or just another bump in the road?
The rough-and-tumble Nebraskan is no stranger to last-minute phone calls. After an injury to Forrest Griffin left Antonio Rogerio Nogueira without a date for UFC 114: "Rampage vs. Evans" in May 2010, Joe Silva yanked Brilz of his couch in Omaha to step in and battle the wily Brazilian.
He may have lost the decision, but he won the fans with a performance that many pundits felt was good enough to get the win and put the brakes on the Nogueira hype train.
Now Brilz gets another chance to prove (or perhaps reaffirm) he belongs among the best in the light heavyweight division -- but is he biting off more than he can chew?
UFC 129 is set to feature a main event between Canada's own Georges St. Pierre, defending his welterweight title against fresh challenger -- and former Elite XC and Strikeforce champion -- Jake Shields.
The event is also expected to include "Father Time" Randy Couture, defying the odds once again to take on Karate master Lyoto Machida.
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