After losing his initial opponent due to an injury, John Howard (13-4 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has gone from a main-card bout with fellow contender Anthony Johnson (8-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) to an un-aired preliminary-card fight with UFC newcomer Daniel Roberts (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC on Versus 1.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the bout last week, and UFC officials have since made the welterweight matchup official.
With the fight moved to the March 21 event's preliminary card, only three fights are set for the Versus-televised main card. A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com a newly booked fight likely will take the vacant spot on the televised portion of the show.
UFC on Versus 1 takes place at the Odeum Colorado in Broomfield (near Denver), and the main card, including a headliner of Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera, airs live on Versus.
Howard was set to face a rival with Johnson, but he now faces Roberts, a two-and-a-half-year pro who's competed for organizations such as the Extreme Fighting League and Freestyle Cage Fighting. Most recently he defeated Anthony Macias (25-12) at a Jan. 10 5150 Combat League/XFL event. He's also defeated the likes of Strikeforce vet Levi Avera (13-6) and Mike Jackson (8-3) in recent fights.
Howard, a one-time IFL fighter who also competed for the New Jersey-based Ring of Combat promotion, owns a six-fight win streak, and he's a perfect 3-0 in the UFC. In addition to split-decision wins over Chris Wilson and Tamdan McCrory, Howard also recently scored a come-from-behind third-round knockout of Dennis Hallman at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. Howard secured the win with just five seconds remaining in the final round.