Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will ask 155-pound standout Donald Cerrone to switch gears and prepare himself for a new opponent for the upcoming UFC on FUEL TV 3 event, scheduled for May 15, 2012, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.
Yves Edwards, who went down with an undisclosed injury and was forced to bow out of the lightweight tilt, will be replaced by the always-dangerous Jeremy Stephens, according to a report from MMA Weekly.
Cerrone (17-4) saw his six-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Nate Diaz, literally, when the lanky Stockton slugger outstruck him across three rounds, sending him to a convincing unanimous decision loss at the UFC 141: "Lesnar vs. Overeem" pay-per-view (PPV) event last December.
It was "Cowboy's" first defeat since falling to now-division champion Ben Henderson way back at WEC 48.
Also looking to get back into the win column is Stephens (20-7), who fell out of favor with the cageside judges in his close split decision defeat to Anthony Pettis last October.
His loss to "Showtime" snapped a two-fight winning streak and left him at 4-2 over his last six fights; however, the "Lil' Heathen" is a considerable threat to anyone in the lightweight division and hasn't been knocked out in 27 professional fights.
Here's a peek at the current UFC on FUEL TV 3 fight card and line up.
Main Event:
145 lbs.: Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung Jung
Fight Card:
155 lbs.: Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens
205 lbs.: Thiago Silva vs. Igor Pokrajac
185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald vs. Tom Lawlor
170 lbs.: Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah
135 lbs.: Mike Easton vs. Yves Jabouin
155 lbs.: Cody McKenzie vs. Aaron Riley
185 lbs.: Brad Tavares vs. Dongi Yang
For more UFC on FUEL TV 3 news and notes click here.