News of the situation was confirmed by the UFC where it was reported Henry Martinez would take Lopez’s spot on the February 4 card. The match-up will mark Martinez’s debut in the organization.

Martinez, who often fights as a lightweight, is 8-1 in his career and comes out of Greg Jackson’s camp in New Mexico. He is currently on a four-fight winning streak with the entire quartet involving some form of finish including in a bout taking place a little more than a week ago.

Comparably, the 5-3 Riddle has fallen in his last two outings with a pair of decision defeats. All eight of his fights have occurred under the UFC banner.

UFC 143: Condit vs. Diaz features Carlos Condit-Nick Diaz duking it out in the main event for the right to be named interim welterweight champion. Other fights include Josh Koscheck-Mike Pierce and Roy Nelson-Fabricio Werdum. PPV action starts at 10:00 PM EST with prelims showing on Facebook (7:00 PM EST) and FX (8:00 PM EST).

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the bout change was confirmed through the UFC’s website..

A protege of Wanderlei Silva who now works with Gil Martinez at Xtreme Couture, Lopez made his UFC debut this past September where he dropped a unanimous decision to Justin Edwards. Prior to the loss “Lil Monster” won ten straight bouts. The 23-year-old has won eleven fights overall with five coming by way o  a strike-based stoppage.

Riddle, who many may remember from a stint on TUF, has never fought outside of the Octagon but finds his back against the cage when he meets Lopez as he’s dropped his last two contests, both by decision, putting him in a must-win situation at the event.

UFC 143 is scheduled for February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Top welterweights Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will battle in the main event for the UFC interim welterweight title.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

UFC 141 will feature a main event pitting former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar against ex-Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem. It is unknown where the Ramos-Riddle bout will take place, but a Spike TV prelim special and Facebook streaming are expected for the undercard.

Ramos, a former Shooto welterweight champion, dropped his UFC debut after suffering a first round knockout loss to Erick Silva.

“I’m training hard since I lost,” said Ramos, in an interview with Tatame. “I’ll go for the knockout or the submission all the time. It’s my career on the line.”

Riddle (5-3) suffered a decision loss to Lance Benoist earlier this year, his second consecutive loss inside the Octagon. Riddle has spent his entire professional career in the UFC.

Ramos knows the kind of pressure that will be placed on both himself and Riddle, saying, “Whoever loses will leave the UFC. He’s under pressure, so am I.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

According to an official statement from the UFC, Oliveira is set to face 21-3-2 Nik Lentz in Pittsburgh as part of the June 26 card. A bout between 170-pounders Matt Riddle and T.J. Grant was also announced.

The 21-year old Oliveira holds an overall record of 14-1 with his first taste of professional defeat coming when highly-touted opponent Jim Miller tapped him out a few minutes into their match-up at UFC 124 last December. Prior to the stumble he had won both of his appearances in the Octagon including a submission of Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero.

Lentz has also experienced a good amount of success lately and hasn’t fallen in his last fourteen fights. He is 5-0-1 since joining the UFC and is currently in the midst of a four-fight winning streak including victories over Andre Winner, Rob Emerson, and Tyson Griffin.

UFC Live 4 will also feature action from hard-hitting heavyweight Pat Barry, who faces French kickboxer Cheick Kongo, as well as Martin Kampmann mixing it up with Jon Howard and Tyson Griffin taking on Manny Gamburyan.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the addition of the matchup to the card late Tuesday night from a source close to one of the fighters.

Rumors have been circulating that UFC 101 will take place on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, although no officials announcements have been made and no plans have been finalized.

Riddle and Cramer both competed as middleweights on TUF 7 as teammates on a team of fighters coached by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

After making it into the TUF mansion following a qualifying victory over Dan Simmler in which Simmler’s jaw was broken, Riddle lost in the first round of the show when he was submitted in the second round by Tim Credeur.

Cramer won his qualifying match against Jeremiah Riggs and then won his first round match after recording a second round TKO over Luke Zachrich. The 23-year old’s run in the tournament ended after he was forced to submit to a heel hook by Credeur in the first round.

In addition to being former TUF teammates, both Cramer and Riddle have a lot in common. Both have fought infrequently since the end of the show due to injuries; both moved down to the 170 pound division after the show; and both made their pro debuts inside the UFC’s Octagon.

Riddle’s formal pro debut took place during the live season finale for the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. Facing show rival Dante Rivera, the former college wrestling standout recorded a unanimous decisions victory over the New Jersey native.

His most recent fight occurred at UFC Fight Night 17 this past February against Steve Bruno. Despite sacrificing a great deal of experience against the American Top Team fighter, Riddle still managed to improve to 2-0 after winning a unanimous decision.

Cramer’s debut took place this past January at UFC 94, where he recorded a split decision victory over Matt Arroyo. Arroyo was released by the organization as a result of the loss.

Riddle has been making progress in his recovery from the injury and sources close to 22-year old fighter have informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com that he’s expected to return to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7 against Steve “Hollywood” Bruno.

The fight will mark just the second bout of Riddle’s pro career with his official debut having taken place during the live finale for the seventh season of TUF this past June. Matched up against veteran Dante Rivera, the former standout collegiate wrestler was able to defeat his vastly more experienced opposition with a unanimous decision victory.

Bruno improved his overall pro MMA record to 12-4 following his second round submission win over Johnny Rees during “UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fight for the Troops” in Fayetteville, North Carolina on December 10.

A five-year veteran of the Navy, Bruno was involved in a helicopter accident in September of 2002 in the Middle East in which he credited the Army for help saving his life.

“When we crashed, the Navy helicopter that medevacked us to Kuwait ended up getting lost on the way there,” Bruno began to tell CBSSports.com last month in a special column covering the Armed Forces veterans who fought at UFN 16. “We had to shut down and they put us in an Army helicopter and they were able to find the hospital. I owe the Army — they basically saved my life.”

Bruno trains out of American Top Team in Florida and is 1-1 lifetime in the UFC with his debut having been a unanimous decision loss to Chris Wilson at UFC 87 this past August. In addition to competing for the UFC, Bruno has also fought for the IFL, MFC, and Spirit MC in South Korea.

UFN 17 will emanate from the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida with the current card reported to be the following:

• Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca
• Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
• Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone
• Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
• Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
• Jake Rosholt vs. Alessio Sakara
• Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
• Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
• Matt Riddle vs. Steve Bruno
• Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos

Riddle has been making progress in his recovery from the injury and sources close to 22-year old fighter have informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com that he’s expected to return to the Octagon in April against an opponent that has yet to be determined.

The fight will mark just the second bout of Riddle’s pro career with his official debut having taken place during the live finale for the seventh season of TUF this past June. Matched up against veteran Dante Rivera, the former standout collegiate wrestler was able to defeat his vastly more experienced opposition with a unanimous decision victory.

Riddle had prepared for the fight vs. Rivera at Arizona Combat Sports but Five Ounces of Pain has also learned that Riddle is planning to leave ACS and relocate to Las Vegas, where he’ll train at the Warrior Training Center.

Veres was 0-2 while competing in the UFC. He made his debut for the promotion at UFC Fight Night 11 on September 19 and was knocked out by Gray Maynard just 0:09 into round one. He last fought at UFC Fight Night 12 on January 23, where he lost to Corey Hill via TKO at 0:37 of round two.

Veres is just one of multiple fighters to have been released from their UFC contracts. Many fighters have had their profiles removed from UFC.com in recent weeks but so far Veres, David Terrell, Hermes Franca, and Doug Evans are the only confirmed fighters to be released.

While it’s never a good thing to see someone lose their job, these releases could be considered good for the careers of the respective fighters listed. In the case of Terrell and Franca, it’s been reported that they requested to be let go. As for Evans and Veres, they now have the freedom to seek fights elsewhere as opposed to being stuck in a state of limbo.