For the past two years in the UFC’s welterweight division, when the company has needed a fighter to step in on short notice, there has been one man to call- Neil Magny. He is doing it again in just over two weeks.
Magny (16-4, 9-3 UFC) will step up again on short notice for his first main event bout as he replaces the injured Matt Brown to take on Kelvin Gastelum (11-1, 6-1 UFC) in the headline bout of UFC Fight Night 78 in Monterrey, Mexico. The event also serves at the finale for The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2, which Gastelum serves as a coach on. The UFC announced the news on their website on Tuesday evening. Brown was forced out of the bout on Monday due to an ankle injury.
Magny will be fighting for the fifth time in 2015, which will be the second straight year he fights five times in a year. Last year, he tied the UFC record for most wins in a calendar year, going a perfect 5-0. While he won’t match that due to an August loss to Demian Maia, he has the chance to close out the year with four wins in five fights against Gastelum. Magny is coming off a split decision win over Erick Silva at UFC Fight Night 74 in August, another bout he took on just about two weeks’ notice. Magny has gone 8-1 in his nine fights since the start of 2014. He was scheduled to fight Stephen Thompson at UFC 195 in January before stepping in for Brown, who Magny is a training partner of.
Gastelum will also be competing in his first main event bout at the event. Gastelum is a coach on the current season of TUF: Latin America alongside Efrain Escudero, who will also be on the card. Gastelum will be returning to the welterweight division after being forced up to the middleweight division for one fight, which was a TKO win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 188 in June. Gastelum, who won season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, has won six of his seven bouts inside the Octagon, but has famously had trouble making weight at 170 pounds, which has hurt his standing in the division despite being one of the brightest prospects at 170 pounds.
UFC Fight Night 78 takes place on November 21. The main card will air on FOX Sports 1, with preliminary bout action airing on UFC Fight Pass before moving over to FOX Sports 1. Also on the card is a featherweight bout between Ricardo Lamas and Diego Sanchez, and a pivotal bout in the flyweight division as Henry Cejudo takes on Jussier Formiga.