The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced Thursday that UFC Fight Night 129 has a new main event, as Demian Maia and Kamaru Usman have been slated to compete in a welterweight scrap on May 19 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.
Maia (25-8) is looking to halt a two-fight skid after dropping consecutive contests to Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington. Usman (12-1) will put his eleven-fight winning streak on the line. The Brazilian steps in for Santiago Ponzinibbio, who was originally booked to duel “The Nigerian Nightmare” but had to pull out due to an injured left hand that will require surgery.
The card’s initial main event was a light heavyweight bout between former 205-pound champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Volkan Oezdemir. The matchup was pulled from the UFC’s May 19 trip to Chile due to ongoing legal issues for Oezdemir, who is facing a third-degree felony battery charge for allegedly knocking a man unconscious outside a Florida bar.
@demianmaia vs @USMAN84kg será la pelea estelar de #UFCChile el 19 de Mayo en la @movistararena‼ https://t.co/nrKM484FEk
Los esperamos ahí. Boletos en @puntoticket pic.twitter.com/Yr5mQk5RzU— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) April 26, 2018