Wilson Reis was set to face Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for the UFC Flyweight Title later this month at UFC 201, but an injury to the champ took him out of the card. Now, Reis will remain, but he’ll now face off against a UFC newcomer in Sean Santella.
The UFC announced the bout, which comes to the July 30 event in Atlanta, during Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 91 broadcast.
Santella, 31, brings a 15-5-1 mark with one no contest into his UFC debut, with just a two fight winning streak coming after a run of two losses and the aforementioned no contest before that. The submission specialist now makes his debut on short notice against Reis, who enters the event off a win over Dustin Ortiz with just a 4-2 mark inside the Octagon.
UFC 201 will air live on pay-per-view, headlined by the Welterweight Title fight between Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley.
Penick’s Analysis: I think this booking tells you all you need to know about how seriously the UFC actually considered Reis to be a challenger to Johnson’s Flyweight Title. Huge step back in competition from the previously booked fight, and leaves things open to the UFC either holding Johnson out until December or giving some other random flyweight a shot.
[Photo (c) Brad Penner via USA Today Sports]
Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!
For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
Leave a Reply