Cole Miller out; Diego Brandao now faces Conor McGregor in Ireland
Cole Miller was unable to make a scheduled conference call on Tuesday to promote his upcoming fight in Ireland and now we know why.
Miller suffered torn ligaments in his thumb during training and is now in a full cast, which means he's unable to fight on the upcoming July 19 card in Dublin in the main event against Ireland's own Conor McGregor.
In his place will step former Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Brandao, who accepts the fight with six weeks to go until the headline bout against McGregor in Dublin.
UFC officials announced the change on Tuesday afternoon.
Brandao (18-9) was last scheduled to fight on the UFC Fight Night card in Brazil from this past weekend, but an injury forced him to forgo the bout and miss the chance to fight close to home. Apparently the injury wasn't too severe because Brandao has been tapped to step in and replace Miller on the Ireland card in July.
"Diego Brandao is explosive and a well-rounded fighter. This should be a war," said UFC president Dana White in a statement.
McGregor vs. Brandao will now headline the upcoming UFC Fight Night card from Dublin, which has now seen changes to both the main and co main events in recent days. Gunnar Nelson got a switch of opponents as well when Ryan LaFlare was forced out of their bout and was replaced by Zak Cummings.
UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao goes down from Ireland on July 19 with details about the broadcast still to be released.
