After suffering an undisclosed injury during training, welterweight contender Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann has withdrawn from the upcoming UFC 111 card. In his place, rising star Jake Ellenberger will step in to face top prospect Ben “Killa B” Saunders. MMAjunkie.com first reported on the bout’s change earlier today.

Ellenberger stopped tough challenger Mike “Quicksand” Pyle in impressive fashion at UFC 108, while Saunders most recently picked up a brutal knockout win over “The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis at UFC 106.

Ellenberger (22-5-0) is a veteran of over a dozen mixed martial arts promotions and has already challenged some of the top names in the welterweight division. He stepped into the Octagon for the first time at UFC Fight Night 19 after a 42-second knockout win at Bellator Fighting Championships 11. Ellenberger dropped a razor-thin decision to former WEC Welterweight Champion “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit in his UFC debut, but rebounded with the victory over Pyle one month ago.

Saunders (8-1-2) began his career with a pair of draws in the Absolute Fighting Championships, then won four straight fights before debuting on season six of The Ultimate Fighter. He quickly became known for his devastating Muay Thai, which he used to dispatch of Brandon Wolff, but suffered a setback when he was defeated by Mike “Quick” Swick at UFC 99. Saunders’s victory over Davis at UFC 106 was easily the biggest of his short career and he will face an even tougher test against Ellenberger.

Saunders was originally set to battle Kampmann on the main card at UFC 111, but it is currently unknown whether his replacement bout with Ellenberger will remain on the pay-per-view portion of the event. UFC 111 takes place on March 27th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)