Lombard vs. Tavares Removed from UFC on Fox 23; Di Chirico vs. Spicely Added to Card

A middleweight bout between Hector Lombard and Brad Tavares set for UFC on Fox 23 has been canceled due to injuries to both fighters.

Multiple outlets confirmed the news on Tuesday following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. The matchup has also been removed from the UFC on Fox 23 event page at UFC.com. A 185-pound contest between Eric Spicely and Alessio Di Chirico has been added to the Jan. 28 event to replace the lost bout.

UFC on Fox 23 takes place at the Pepsi Center in Denver and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight clash between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko. The evening’s main card will air on Fox Network.

A native of Italy, Di Chirico earned his first Octagon triumph at UFC on Fox 21, where he took a split decision over Garreth McLellan. Spicely is coming off an upset submission triumph of Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night 95 on Sept. 24.