The UFC made some more modifications to UFC 178 in an effort to make up for Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier being postponed.
A lightweight bout between exciting contenders Donald Cerrone and Bobby Green will now serve as the co-main event for the Sept. 27 card, the UFC announced late Thursday.
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Cerrone (24-6, 1 NC) is riding a four-fight win streak with knockouts of Jim Miller and Adriano Martins and submission victories over Edson Barboza and Evan Dunham during that span. The 31-year-old Jackson-Winkeljohn product has been one of the most active fighters in the UFC lately, competing three times already in 2014 and six times in the last 15 months.
Green (23-5) is coming off the biggest win of his career, a split decision over former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson in July. The 27-year-old is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC and has won eight in a row overall. With a combination of speed, crisp boxing and a solid wrestling base, Green has become one of the fastest-rising 155-pounders in the sport.
Green was originally scheduled to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 178. Instead, Masvidal will take on James Krause in a bout expected to take place on the preliminary card.
Masvidal (27-8) is on a two-fight win streak, beating both Pat Healy and Daron Cruickshank by unanimous decisions in April and July, respectively. Krause (21-5) picked up a win against former WEC champion Jamie Varner at UFC 173 in his last outing and has also defeated notable lightweights Michael Johnson and Sam Stout.
UFC 178 was scheduled to be headlined by Jones vs Cormier, but that tilt was removed from the card when Jones suffered a knee injury in training that required surgery.
A flyweight title fight between Demetirous Johnson and Chris Cariaso was shifted from the UFC 177 co-main event to serve as the new UFC 178 headliner.
Here is the current UFC 178 lineup:
— Demetrious Johnson vs Chris Cariaso
— Donald Cerrone vs Bobby Green
— Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor
— Dominick Cruz vs Takeya Mizugaki
— Cat Zingano vs Amanda Nunes
— Tim Kennedy vs Yoel Romero
— Patrick Cote vs Stephen Thompson
— Jorge Masvidal vs James Krause
— Manvel Gamburyan vs Cody Gibson
— John Howard vs Brian Ebersole
— Jon Tuck vs Kevin Lee
