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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
That didn't take long.
Only hours after the news broke that Evan Dunham has been pulled from UFC 132 with an injury, the UFC has announced his replacement against George Sotiropoulos.
Stepping in for Dunham is 26-year-old Brazilian Rafael Dos Anjos, who will return to action for the first time since having his jaw broken against Clay Guida last August. Submitting to Guida with pain applied to the jaw brought Dos Anjos to 3-3 in the UFC.
After losing his first two fights in the Octagon, Dos Anjos turned things around with three consecutive wins in 2009 and 2010, highlighted by his "Submission of the Night" armbar over Terry Etim at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.
He'll be taking on the Aussie Sotiropoulos, who looks to bounce back from a win-streak-ending loss to Dennis Siver in February at UFC 127.
UFC 132 takes place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by the Bantamweight Championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Penick's Analysis: This isn't quite the fight I would have liked to see in place of Dunham, as Ben Henderson could have been an excellent option if the UFC wanted to go that route, but Dos Anjos is a good fighter in his own right and will be a definite challenge for Sotiropoulos. It's good that he's getting back into action, and he's still got plenty of time to prepare for this fight, so this should be a good matchup in July.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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