TJ Dillashaw steps in again this time at UFC on Fox 7

Francisco Rivera injured, replaced by TJ Dillashaw who now meets Hugo Viana at UFC on Fox 7

By Ben Heather @benheather

For the third time this week a fighter who fought and won at UFC 158 will step in as an injury replacement on the UFC on Fox 7 card. Its only a five weeks turnaround between UFC 158 and the UFC on FOX 7 event. However for TJ Dillashaw (7-1 MMA 3-1 UFC) this is becoming a usual length for a fight camp. For the second fight in a row Dillashaw is stepping in as a short notice injury replacement for Francisco Rivera (9-2 MMA 2-0 UFC) to fight Hugo Viana (7-0 MMA 2-0 UFC).

UFC officials announced on Friday that Rivera was injured and the new match up had been made.

Dillashaw will be hoping he can emulate his performance from UFC 158 where he knocked out Issei Tamura in the second round. That win made it three in a row since his only loss of his career to John Dodson in the final of The Ultimate Fighter Season 14.

Viana who is still unbeaten in his professional MMA career made his way to the UFC through the Ultimate Fighter Brazil where he was a semi finalist. He picked up a split decision victory over John Teixeria before dropping to bantamweight to fight Reuben Duran at the TUF 16 finale. In this fight he picked up his first stoppage victory of his career by knocking out Duran.

This fight will make up part of the prelims for the UFC on Fox 7 event which is headlined by the lightweight title fight between champion Benson Henderson and challenger Gilbert Melendez. UFC on Fox 7 takes place on April 20th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

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