A fifth fighter has pulled out of UFC on ESPN +13.
UFC light heavyweight Gian Villante is out of his preliminary card matchup against surging New Englander Mike Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will now face Dana White’s Contender Series veteran John Allan (13-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will step in next week.
A person with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking, asking to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make an official announcement. Wrestling Observer was first to report the news Thursday.
UFC on ESPN+ 13 takes place July 13 at Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. The card streams on ESPN+.
Villante joins John Phillips, Cynthia Calvillo, Sara McMann, and Martin Day on the list of fighters who have withdrawn from the card.
Boston’s Rodriguez has split his two UFC appearances to date. After losing a unanimous decision to Devin Clark in his promotional debut, Rodriguez returned in style in his second outing. The 6-foot-4 light heavyweight finished Adam Milstead in explosive fashion at UFC on FOX 31 last December.
His opponent, Brazil’s Allan has won five out of his last six bouts. His lone loss came last summer on the Brazilian installment of DWCS. The 26-year-old Parana native was submitted by eventual contract winner Vinicius Moreira. Allan rebounded in his lone fight since then, finishing then-undefeated Alexandre Silva via strikes in Round 2 at Future FC 6.
With the change, the latest UFC on ESPN+ 13 lineup now includes:
- Germaine de Randamie vs. Aspen Ladd
- Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
- Mirsad Bektic vs. Josh Emmett
- Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
- Karl Roberson vs. Wellington Turman
- Cezar Ferreira vs. Marvin Vettori
- John Allan vs. Mike Rodriguez
- Andre Fili vs. Sheymon Moraes
- Nicco Montano vs. Julianna Pena
- Darren Elkins vs. Ryan Hall
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Liu Pingyuan
- Livinha Souza vs. Brianna Van Buren
- Vince Morales vs. Benito Lopez
For the latest on UFC on ESPN+ 13, check out our UFC Schedule page.
