Following his outstanding win in his debut at UFC 158, Canadian Jordan Mein will have a short turnaround before his second fight in the Octagon.
Mein (27-8) will replace Dan Hardy at UFC on FOX 7 on April 20 and fight Matt Brown.
Hardy was forced to pull out of his fight with Brown due to an undisclosed injury, UFC officials announced late Thursday.
According to The Canadian Press, Hardy was not cleared by the California commission, which said the English fighter had a heart irregularity which has been diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
Hardy’s manager Wad Alameddine told addictedmma.com that the fighter has never suffered from the issue and subsequent tests showed no signs of it.
“Sadly the commission will not clear him for the fight with Brown so the UFC were forced to draft in Jordan Mein as a replacement for Dan,” said Alameddine.
Although disappointed, Hardy had some fun with his situation on Twitter.
Mein, a native of Lethbridge, Alta., disposed of veteran Dan Miller at the Bell Centre in Montreal March 16 in a thoroughly impressive showing. After escaping a tight armbar early with brilliant technique and poise, Mein ended up finishing Miller with strikes late in round one of their welterweight bout.
The 23-year-old has won nine of his last 10 bouts, with his only loss during that stretch being a split decision to rising star Tyron Woodley in Strikeforce last January.
Brown (16-11) is riding a four-fight win streak and coming off a big knockout win over Mike Swick at UFC on FOX 5 in December.
With the addition of Jordan Mein vs. Matt Brown, UFC on FOX 7 now has eight matchups consisting of a Strikeforce fighter vs. a UFC fighter.
The others include:
— Benson Henderson (UFC lightweight champ) vs. Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce lightweight champ)
— Frank Mir (UFC) vs. Daniel Cormier (Strikeforce)
— Nate Diaz (UFC) vs. Josh Thomson (Strikeforce)
— Francis Carmont (UFC) vs. Lorenz Larkin (Strikeforce)
— Tim Means (UFC) vs. Jorge Masvidal (Strikeforce)
— Anthony Njokuani (UFC) vs. Roger Bowling (Strikeforce)
— Clifford Starks (UFC) vs. Yoel Romero (Strikeforce)
At UFC 158, shortly after Mein’s win over Miller Saturday, I crossed paths with UFC president Dana White and asked, “How about that Jordan Mein?” He simply responded: “Those Strikeforce guys are good.”
On April 20 in San Jose, we’ll find out just how good.
Also on the UFC on FOX 7 card: Chad Mendes vs. Darren Elkins; Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama; Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck; Ramsey Nijem vs. Myles Jury; and Francisco Rivera vs. Hugo Viana.
NOTE: Like Mein, Elkins is another guy competing on a quick turnaround after a win at UFC 158. He’s replacing an injured Clay Guida after defeating Antonio Carvalho by first-round TKO on Saturday.
— With files from THE CANADIAN PRESS
