Eryk Anders Replaces Jimi Manuwa Against Thiago Santos At UFC Fight Night 137

A big change has been made to this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Brazil.

According to MMAJunkie, Jimi Manuwa is out of his main event fight against Thiago “Marreta” Santos. Taking his place will be Eryk Anders.

The marks the second time the main event for Saturday’s card has been changed. The original five-round headliner pitting Manuwa against Glover Teixeira. However, Teixeira suffered a shoulder injury, which led to Santos replacing him. Now, Manuwa is out after tearing his hamstring while on a run after arriving in Brazil. 

Anders is coming off a knockout victory over Tim Williams in his last bout on Aug. 25. Anders scored the win with a head kick and earned himself an extra $50,000 for Performance of the Night. Anders previously headlined UFC Fight Night 125 this past February, dropping a split decision to Lyoto Machida.

Santos bounced back from a knockout loss at the hands of David Branch to put up a decision victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 227. He defeated Anthony Smith by TKO on the undercard of the Machida-Anders event.

UFC has yet to confirm the main event change.

A short time after the news broke, an injured Manuwa posted the following statement on Instagram:

 

 

 

 

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I’m truly gutted. The day after I landed in Brazil I went for my last hard training session. During that session of sprints I tore my hamstring, and after getting it assessed in hospital, doctors diagnosed it as a severe tear greater than 50%. They told me it will be a minimum of 6 weeks recovery time. Ill be working hard everyday to get back so I can continue to put on great fights for everyone to watch. I was 100% ready and looking forward to putting on a great show for the fans in São Paulo and around the world . I made a lot of sacrifices and even missed my daughter’s 10th birthday. I’m sorry Havana, I love you, Daddy is on his way home. I want to thank everyone of you for the love and support you have sent my way. Without all of you none of this is possible. I can’t wait to come back and put on a show for you all. Lions eat first —

A post shared by Jimi Manuwa (@pb1_) on Sep 18, 2018 at 7:14am PDT

Fightful will have complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 137 this Saturday, Sept. 22.