Mousasi vs. Hall rematch to headline UFC Belfast with Gunnar out

Gunnar Nelson is out his main event with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 99 with unknown injuries. The new event headliner will be a rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.

The news comes via MMA Fighting‘s Ariel Helwani.

The shuffling is a testament to the now truly international nature of mixed martial arts. A sport once dominated by Brazil, the USA, and Japan, is now worldwide.

Nelson is an Icelander, but frequently trains at SBG Ireland under the tutelage of John Kavanagh. His intended opponent was Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim. Now those two are out, and are replaced by the Iran-born Dutchman Gegard Mousasi fighting Jamaican Uriah Hall, who has lived in the USA since he was 13. And the event takes place on November 19 in Belfast, Ireland in front of fans who will bring down the house.

Mousasi is on a three-fight win streak, capped by a second round TKO of Vitor Belfort at UFC 204. The fight before that was a loss to Hall via spectacular kick KO. Hall has not won since beating Mousasi, losing to Robert Whittaker via decision and Derek Brunson via TKO in the first.

Mousasi is ranked #5 in the division, and Hall #10. The odds makers have Hall around a +350 underdog, meaning if you bet $100 on him and he wins, you win $350. Winning $350 sounds good, but it also means it is not real likely to happen.

Mousasi is looking to break into the potential title fight tier in the middleweight division.

#2 Chris Weidman fights #4 Yoel Romero at UFC 205 on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. #3 Jacare Souza fights #1 Luke Rockhold at UFC Fight Night 101 on Nov. 26, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia. Whoever wins most spectacularly presumably gets a shot at UFC champion Michael Bisping. Mousasi hopes a spectacular win gets him at the least a #1 contender fight.

Hall hopes to not lose three in a row, which is a precarious spot in the UFC.

With this fight, the UFC Fight Night 99 on November 19, 2016, at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland is now complete:

Main Card (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)
Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi
James Krause vs. Ross Pearson
Timothy Johnson vs. Alexander Volkov
Teruto Ishihara vs. Artem Lobov
Prelim Card (UFC Fight Pass, 12:30 p.m. ET)
Ian McCall vs. Neil Seery
Magnus Cedenblad vs. Jack Marshman
Ali Bagautinov vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Kevin Lee vs. Magomed Mustafaev
Amanda Cooper vs. Anna Elmose
Mark Godbeer vs. Justin Ledet
Zak Cummings vs. Alexander Yakovlev
Milana Dudieva vs. Marion Reneau