A knee injury has forced former WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit out of a planned bout with Chris “Lights Out” Lytle on February 27th at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia. “The Natural Born Killer” has been replaced by veteran Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole, who will face Lytle on short notice.
Sportsnet.ca was first to report on Condit’s injury, and Fight News Australia named Ebersole as his replacement today. Lytle enters the welterweight matchup on a four-fight winning streak, while Ebersole brings over 70 fights’ worth of experience into his UFC debut and has never been knocked out.
Lytle (30-17-5) sports a 9-9 record inside the Octagon, but he has now won five of his last six fights and appears to be on the brink of finally reaching contender status in the UFC. Aside from a pair of doctor stoppage losses due to cuts, Lytle has never been finished in his career and he has stopped 24 of his opponents to date. Recently, the submission specialist has returned to his boxing pedigree; engaging in a number of spirited battles that have earned him multiple UFC fight bonuses. While he may still be a few wins away from a title shot, Lytle is clearly at a high point in his career.
Ebersole (56-14-1, 1 ND) has won 11 of his last 12 bouts, with the lone defeat during that time coming in a Cage Fighting Championships title bout with current Bellator champion Hector Lombard in 2008. The former Illinois native now resides and competes in Australia and will receive a big opportunity when he is part of just the second UFC card in the country. Ebersole recently earned a victory over former UFC champion Carlos Newton and has never been knocked out in his lengthy career. However, he has suffered nine submission setbacks and that could prove to be a key factor against Lytle.
UFC 127 takes place on February 27th at the Acer Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The event is headlined by a welterweight bout between B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch.
UFC 127 Fight Card (subject to change):
– B.J. Penn vs Jon Fitch
– Michael “The Count” Bisping vs Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera
– George Sotiropoulos vs Dennis Siver
– Chris “Lights Out” Lytle vs Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole (*)
– Kyle “KO” Noke vs Chris Camozzi
– Spencer “The King” Fisher vs Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson
– Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson vs James Te Huna
– Riki Fukuda vs Nick “The Promise” Ring
– Chris “The Crowbar” Tuchscherer vs Mark Hunt
– Maciej “Irokez” Jewtuszko vs Curt “The War” Warburton
– Tom Blackledge vs Anthony “The Hippo” Perosh
– Tie Quan “The Mongolian Wolf” Zhang vs Jason Reinhardt
* Not yet officially announced.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)