As the saying goes, "one man's loss is another man's gain."
In this case, Russian prospect Oleksiy Oliynyk was forced to withdraw from his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut against fellow heavyweight, Jared Rosholt, due to an injury. The heavyweight tilt was scheduled to air on the Fox Sports 1 'prelims' card before UFC on Fox 10 hits the big network.
This led to the UFC announcing that the lightweight bout between Daron Cruickshank and Mike Rio to be promoted from the UFC Fight Pass 'prelims' to the UFC on Fox 10 televised Fox Sports 1 card.
Rio and Cruickshank were members of the 15th season of the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) cast. Recently, they've both hit a string of bad luck inside the Octagon.
Cruickshank is currently 1-2 in the UFC following a tough submission loss to Adriano Martins at UFC Fight Night 32. It was a disappointing result after he earned a hard fought split-decision victory over Yves Edwards at UFC on Fox: "Johnson vs. Moraga."
Rio has been even less successful in his UFC tenure. Prior to officially making his UFC debut, he sported an impressive 8-1 record fighting on the American regional scene. Since defeating John Cofer at the Ultimate Fighter 16 finale, he's fought just twice, losing both contests by submission.
This bout could very well be a "loser leaves town" match. Here's hoping for some fireworks.
UFC on FOX 10 takes place January 25, 2014 at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The main card airs on FOX.