A clash between lightweight submission standouts Hermes Franca and Gleison Tibau could be on the docket for UFC 90 on Oct. 25, according to a report by Sherdog.com.

The story quotes Franca as the source for the story. The UFC and Tibau’s camp at American Top Team have yet to officially comment.

If the matchup becomes official, it should be interesting as Franca is a former member of ATT’s Coconut Creek branch. According to Franca, he and Tibau are friends and even wished each other luck in regards to the forthcoming matchup when they ran into each other last week.

Franca returned to the UFC at UFC Fight Night 14 last month after having been released earlier in the year. In his return, Franca suffered a unanimous decision defeat against Frankie Edgar. It was Franca’s second consecutive loss with his previous defeat coming against then-UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk in July of 2007 at UFC 73.

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MMA Junkie is reporting that UFC newcomer Razak Al-Hussan is expected to step in to replace Tomasz Drwal in a bout against former IFL fighter Andre Gusmao at UFC 87 on August 9th.

Both Gusmao and Al-Hussan will be making their UFC debuts. According to the report, no reason was immediately given for Drwal’s absence from the card. This would be the second time in a row now that Drwal has had to pull out of a fight in the UFC. He pulled out of a fight against David Heath in February due to a knee injury but it’s unknown if his absence from the UFC 87 card is at all related to the same injury.

Al-Hussan is a Midwestern prospect who carries an undefeated 5-0 record coming into the fight and four of his five victories have come by way of TKO or submission. Gusmao is also 5-0 in his career with four of his victories coming in the IFL.

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Undefeated light heavyweight prospect Andre Gusmao will make his UFC debut at UFC 87 on August 9 in a match against Tomasz Drwal, according to UFC.com.

Gusmao, 5-0, previously fought in the IFL, where he holds two career wins over Mike Ciesnolevicz. The 31-year old Brazilian native is known for his strong submission work on the ground, as well as some dynamic striking that he began to display towards the latter part of his IFL tenure.

Drwal, a native of Poland, made his his UFC debut at UFC 75 in London last September, where he lost to Thiago Silva via second round TKO. He has not fought since losing to Silva but boasts a 14-2 lifetime MMA record.

UFC 87 will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. and will feature Georges St. Pierre defending the UFC welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Bouts between Brock Lesnar and Heath Herring as well as Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta are planned as well.

UFC.com is reporting that Tomasz Drwal will not be part of UFC 81 due to injury:

A knee injury has forced light heavyweight Tomasz Drwal to withdraw from his February 2nd bout with David Heath on the UFC 81 card in Las Vegas. No replacement will be made for this fight, and UFC 81, which is headlined by the interim UFC heavyweight title fight between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, and the UFC debut of Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir, will carry on with eight bouts.

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