Report: Chael Sonnen vs Wanderlei Silva now UFC 175 co-main event, Junior dos Santos vs Stipe Miocic to headline UFC Fight Night 42

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is shuffling its upcoming mixed martial arts (MMA) event deck, moving several big matches already planned for this summer into new positions.

The bad blood grudge match between Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC Fight Night 42 was seemingly too appealing to give away for free on FOX Sports 1 on May 31, 2014. Therefore, promotion officials instead inserted Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic, which was supposed to co-headline UFC 173 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, 2014.

Sonnen vs. Silva will now serve as the co-main event at UFC 175, which is expected to feature Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida in the top spot if "All American" can recover from minor knee surgery (read more details here) in time for the annual Fourth of July weekend (July 5, 2014) pay-per-view (PPV) event.

In fact, adding Sonnen vs. Silva might be a safety net in case Weidman encounters a setback on his road to recovery. If "The Axe Murderer" doesn't suffer an "injury" of his own, of course, prior to fight night.

Therefore, based on the latest shake up, according to Yahoo!Sports.com, the three affected fight cards look like this (click each for details):

• UFC Fight Night 42: "Dos Santos vs. Miocic"
  
• UFC 173: "Barao vs. Dillashaw"
• UFC 175: "Weidman vs. Machida"

As a result of these changes, the Welterweight showdown between Jake Ellenberger and Robbie Lawler -- at least until further notice -- will serve as the new UFC 173 co-main event.