The UFC has named up-and-comer Stefan Struve as the official replacement for Todd Duffee at UFC 107, who withdrew from the event with an injured back.
Struve will face the returning Paul Buentello in a heavyweight bout set for the televised main card portion of UFC 107. The UFC officially revealed the change by posting it in the UFC 107 event page on the promotion's website.
The UFC decided to go with Struve over the other candidate being considered to replace Duffee, Mike Russow. No word yet on when Russow will be back in action.
Struve (18-3) is coming off of a first round submission win over undefeated UFC newcomer Chase Gormley at UFC 104 on Oct. 24. He took home an extra $60,000 having earned the "Submission of the Night" honors for the victory.
The win was Struve's second straight, with his previous win coming over Denis Stojnic via second round submission at UFC 99 in June. Prior to the wins, he opened his UFC career in dismal fashion getting absolutely decimated in his UFC debut against Junior dos Santos at UFC 95 in February.
Buentello (27-10) will be returning to the UFC for the first time since a previous stint in the Octagon from February of 2005 to February of 2006, where he put together a near perfect 3-1 record with the promotion.
Buentello is 6-1 in his last seven bouts, however, he hasn't fought since defeating Kirill Sidelnikov at Affliction: "Day of Reckoning" back in January. His only loss over that span came against Alistair Overeem in a bout that determined the first ever Strikeforce heavyweight title holder in November of 2007.
UFC 107 takes place on Dec. 12 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., and the main card airs live on pay-per-view. The event will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title bout between current champ B.J. Penn and top contender Diego Sanchez.
In addition, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on Cheick Kongo, and Kenny Florian and Clay Guida will face each other in a lightweight bout with fireworks written all over it.
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