UFC
Yves Edwards injured, Jeremy Stephens in against Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fuel TV 3
Feb 27, 2012 - 4:00:56 PM Yves Edwards injured, Jeremy Stephens in against Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fuel TV 3

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Yves Edwards has been forced out of a bout with Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fuel TV 3 this May, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com, and stepping into his place is Jeremy Stephens.

Though initially reported as an undisclosed injury, reports on Twitter state that Edwards may have a torn bicep, keeping him from this bout.

Stephens will return to action for the first time since September and his split decision loss to Anthony Pettis. For the third straight fight he'll take on a former WEC competitor in Cerrone, and he'll hope to pick up his fifth win in his last seven fights in the Octagon.

Cerrone hopes to bounce back himself after suffering a momentum killing loss to Nate Diaz in December. Prior to that decision defeat, Cerrone had rattled off four straight wins in 2011 in what was an impressive kick off to his UFC career.

UFC on Fuel TV 3 takes place on May 15 from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., headlined by a featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier and "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung.

Penick's Analysis: This is one of the cases where an injury replacement actually improves upon the initial matchup. Edwards is a solid veteran and would have been a decent challenge for Cerrone, but Stephens is a bit further up the ladder in the lightweight division. Cerrone let emotions take over in his fight with Diaz, and needs to rebound with a big performance here. For Stephens, he needs to find a way to finish the fight as he hasn't had the best luck with the judges when his fights go the distance.