The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Efrain Escudero will return to the Octagon to face Jacob Volkmann at UFC 141 after an undisclosed injury forced TJ Grant out of the lightweight matchup on the preliminary card of the Dec. 30 event in Las Vegas, the UFC announced Tuesday.
Escudero (18-3) won 5 of his 6 fights since being cut by the UFC after failing to make weight and losing to Charles Oliveira in September 2010 following a 3-1 start to his UFC career. Volkmann (13-2) is on a four-fight win streak following back-to-back losses, including a victory over Danny Castillo in August.
UFC 141 is headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem for the first shot at new UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and also features a lightweight showdown between Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz.
