With Stephen Thompson forced with withdraw from UFC Fight Night 60, Benson Henderson (21-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has agreed to step in and face Brandon Thatch (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in the main event.
Benson Henderson vs. Brandon Thatch is the new UFC Fight Night 60 main event
The switch was confirmed on FOX Sports 1’s UFC 183 post-fight show.
Henderson books a quick return to action after suffering a disappointing and somewhat controversial decision loss to Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 59. The result saw Henderson suffer back-to-back defeats for this first time in his professional career.
Although he’s a former lightweight champion, Henderson has dabbled with the idea of a move to the 170-pound division for some time. “Smooth” will now make the jump for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, Thatch hasn’t fought since November 2013 where he scored a first-round knockout of Paulo Thiago. The victory was his 10th in a row, all by stoppage in the opening round.
UFC Fight Night 60 takes place Feb. 14 at 1STBank Center in Broomfield, Colo. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass.
With the change in the main event, the lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
- Benson Henderson vs. Brandon Thatch
- Max Holloway vs. Cole Miller
- Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Neil Magny
- Daniel Kelly vs. Patrick Walsh
- Michel Prazeres vs. Kevin Lee
- Ray Borg vs. Chris Kelades
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
- Nik Lentz vs. opponent TBA
- Efrain Escudero vs. Rodrigo Lima
- Jim Alers vs. Chas Skelly
- Tim Elliott vs. Zach Makovsky
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7:30 p.m. ET)
- James Moontasri vs. Cody Pfister
