Hard-hitting Drew McFedries (7-4) has answered the call to fill-in for the injured Goran Reljic and fight Thales Leites (13-1) at UFC 90: "Silva vs. Cote" at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., on October 25.
We passed along news just yesterday that 24-year-old undefeated Croatian fighter sustained a back injury while training for the upcoming 185-pound fight, forcing him out of the bout with less than two weeks until showtime.
Enter "Massacre."
McFedries has had a rollercoaster career inside the Octagon, winning every other fight and being unable to string together consecutive wins in six attempts with the promotion.
He most recently lost to Mike Massenzio via submission (kimura) at UFC Fight Night 15 in Omaha, Neb., on September 17, meaning the Miletich product will compete twice in little more than one month. If his pattern is any historical indicator, however, then McFedries is poised for a win.
But McFedries will need more than that to defeat the crafty Brazilian.
Fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Leites has rattled of four straight wins inside that Octagon. And that includes a controversial split decision win of perennial contender, Nathan Marquardt, at UFC 85: "Bedlam" back in June.
His only career loss is to Martin Kampmann in his promotional debut back in 2006.
Leites was supposed to take on Dean Lister at UFC Fight Night 15. However, the "Boogeyman" sustained an injury during training and was scratched from the showdown, making McFedries the third opponent for which Leites has had to prepare in just about as many months.
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