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There's been a change in the bout order of UFC 154. With the card less than three weeks away a main card/preliminary card swap has been made by the UFC, which benefits middleweights Costa Philippou and Nick Ring, who are now on the PPV portion of the broadcast. Cyrille Diabate and Chad Griggs will now battle on the FX preliminary special. Via MMA Junkie:
Rising middleweight contenders Constantinos Philippou (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Nick Ring (13-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will compete on UFC 154's main card after all.
The fighters have taken a spot previously reserved for light heavyweights Chad Griggs (11-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Cyrille Diabate (18-8-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who have been moved to the preliminary card.
Definitely the correct decision. There is no reason for Griggs and Diabate to be on the main card, especially after Griggs was thoroughly dominated by Travis Browne on the prelims of UFC 145. It's highly likely he gets the boot if he loses again.This is purely a fight for those who like fun matchups, as neither man is ever going to threaten even the top 20 at 205 lbs.
Philippou has been on an impressive winning streak most recently extended by defeating Riki Fukuda at UFC 148. His heavy hands and solid takedown defense has been a successful formula as of late and another win could see him fight top 15 competition. Ring's 3-1 record in the UFC is certainly contestable when you watch his fights with Fukuda and Court McGee, but nevertheless he's been on a good run and also deserves to be on the main card regardless of what you think of his decision wins.
Also on the UFC 154 main card are: GSP vs. Condit, Kampmann vs. Hendricks, Lawlor vs. Carmont, and Hominick vs. Garza.