Due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Brian Foster, most notably a brain hemorrhage discovered by doctor's in a pre-fight physical, the UFC was forced to scramble for a late replacement for the upcoming UFC 129 event on April 30 in Toronto.
Looks like they've found one ... and he's a "Juggernaut."
Jake Ellenberger has agreed to step in to replace Foster against Sean Pierson in Canada, as announced by the promotion just last night.
Ellenberger, a gritty Nebraskan wrestler, has been rolling right through his opposition since joining the UFC, save for a controversial split decision loss in his debut against Carlos Condit.
He recently went to war with Carlos Eduardo Rocha, taking him out in three rounds in February, but injuring his hands in the process, which was thought to have him out until late summer.
Guess not.
Sean Pierson made headlines when it became known that the Toronto Police force, of which he was a member of, was not happy with his participation in mixed martial arts. He would have to make a choice between fighting and being a policeman.
Octagon it is.
Pierson started his career a mediocre 5-4 but after stringing together five consecutive wins, he got the call up from the big show. Well, that and the UFC needed a late replacement for an injured T.J. Waldburger at UFC 124 against Matt Riddle.
The Canadian agreed and made the most of it by taking a unanimous decision that company President Dana White would have awarded "Fight of the Night" had it not been the one event he decided to let the fans vote on the award.
Apparently that was enough for the organization to ask the grappler back and he'll get to fight in his native land, no less.
Not bad.
UFC 129 is set to go down on April 30 in the promotion's debut in Toronto. Featuring a crowd of 55,000 fans and the largest gate in the history of MMA, the event will be headlined by the most famous Canadian of them all, Georges St. Pierre as he defends his title against fresh challenger Jake Shields.
Jose Aldo will make his first defense of his featherweight title in the co-main event of the evening against "The Machine" Mark Hominick, while Randy Couture will attempt to defy time once again when he takes on Karate master Lyoto Machida.
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