Philippou Confirmed as Replacement for Sakara at UFC 133
By FCF Staff
Reports that Alessio Sakara has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 133 tilt with Jorge Rivera have been confirmed by the promotion, as the UFC has announced that Constantinos Philippou will step in for the injured middleweight.
The announcement means that for a third time a scheduled bout between Rivera and Sakara has been cancelled due to injury or illness.
Philippou (7-2) will head into the August 6th tilt having lost by unanimous decision to Nick Catone in his Octagon debut at UFC 128 in March. Prior to the loss, Philippou had gone undefeated in eight straight fights, while competing under the Ring of Combat banner. Philippou was originally scheduled to fight Rafael Natal on the UFC 133 preliminary card.
Rivera (19-8) will be looking to rebound from a TKO loss to Michael Bisping in February after winning three straight fights.
UFC 133 will be hosted by Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center and will see Rashad Evans face fellow light-heavyweight Tito Ortiz in the main event.
Some of the other bouts scheduled for UFC 133 include middleweight Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, welterweight Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle and Brian Ebersole vs. welterweight Dennis Hallman.