The deal could span six total fights should Schultz fight his way into the grand prix finals. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to the report.

Schultz, who is 20-9-1 on his career, will be facing off against Cage Force and Shooto veteran Mizuto Hirota, who is 9-2, during the opening round of the grand prix. Schultz is riding a six fight win streak into the grand prix and this will be his first fight on Japanese soil since dropping a fight against Kuniyoshi Hironaka in 2006.

CLICK HERE for more UFC 86-related content from 5 Oz of Pain!

Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio accepts the bout after just last week looking as impressive as anyone can look in 16 seconds against UFC debutant, Ryan Roberts at UFC Fight Night 13. In that 16 seconds Aurelio managed to drop his opponent, pound on him and then jump into an arm bar victory. Before the fight with Roberts, “Maximus” made light work of Luke Caudillo and lost a one-sided split decision to Clay Guida (yes you read that correctly).

Tyson Griffin most recently entered the Octagon at UFC 81, where he scored a unanimous decision against Gleision Tibau. Griffin has gone 4-1 in the UFC with his lone loss being a very entertaining unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar last year at UFC 67.

UFC 86 is set to take place on July 5th at the Mandalay Bay and will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between UFC light-heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage Jackson and TUF 1 light-heavyweight winner, Forrest Griffin.

Read more UFC 86 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

The news comes from the UFC’s official website, UFC.com:

Nebraska’s Ryan “Are You Ready” Roberts will enter the UFC Octagon for the first time on April 2nd when he takes on veteran Marcus Aurelio in a lightweight bout on the UFC Fight Night Card in Broomfield, Colorado. Roberts (14-2, 1 no contest) replaces Spencer Fisher, who was forced from the bout earlier this week due to a shoulder injury. Said Roberts, “This (fighting in the UFC) is what I set out to do. Now it’s here.”

Roberts (8-2) last fought at Victory Fighting Championships where he fought twice in the same night, firstly defeating Zach Wolff via TKO and then scoring a 5-round unanimous decision over Joe Doherty.

Rumors circulated earlier this week that Jim Miller would step in as Fisher’s replacement but 5 Oz’s own, Sam Caplan reported that the bout had not been finalized due to Miller’s commitments to the IFL. It would appear that those commitments have resulted in Roberts being given the fight over Miller.

Read more UFN 13 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

The bout was meant to take place on the un-televised portion of UFC Fight Night 13  on April 2nd.

UFC.com made the news official with a quick update on their homepage.

On Monday, lightweight contender Spencer Fisher was forced to withdraw from his UFC Fight Night bout against Marcus Aurelio on April 2nd due to a shoulder injury. A replacement opponent for Aurelio will be announced shortly.

Jim Miller (10-1) appears to be the likely replacement for Fisher according to Sherdog.com. Miller has fought his whole career on smaller shows with his lone loss being a tough decision to UFC lightweight, Frank Edgar.

UFC Fight Night 13 is set to take place on April 2nd, at the Broomfield Events Center, Colorado. The stacked event will be headlined by a lightweight clash between Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon.

Read more UFN 13 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

A UFC Fight Night 13 event planned for April 2 will include a lightweight bout between Spencer Fisher (20-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Marcus Aurelio (15-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

Sources closes to both fighters told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the rumored bout has been accepted by both fighters. Fisher, specifically, told some of his fellow fighters about the bout earlier today.

More good matchmaking by the UFC. After losing to Frankie Edgar, Fisher’s stock dropped in the stacked lightweight division. After Aurelio’s recent victory over Luke Caudillo, his stock has risen a bit. For Fisher, a win over the PRIDE veteran would be a nice win for his career as well as a nice boost back into the mix of things in the lightweight division. For Aurelio, a victory over Spencer Fisher would legitimize his place in the UFC’s lightweight division and send him on the right path toward contention at 155 lbs. UFC Fight Night 13 is shaping up to be a good one, with a rumored bout between Matt Hamill and Stephan Bonnar also in the works.

For the second time in as many tries, the UFC might have an opponent for Karo “The Heat” Parisyan fall through. They originally went after Hayato Sakurai for Karo’s opponent, but that deal couldn’t get done. Now it looks like Hector Lombard will not be able to hop over the US border. According to Sherdog, Lombard has been denied access to the United States, based on the fact he only has a Cuban passport.

“I’m not going to get my visa,” Lombard said while speaking with Sherdog. “I only have a Cuban passport, so I’ve been told it’s impossible for me to migrate.

“I went to the American embassy twice and they said no to me both times.”

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda…” that’s how best to describe what is happening to UFC 78.

Check out more UFC 78 content on 5 Oz. of Pain.

As reported previously, Aurelio will be taking on Clay Guida. Mir is now also slated to partake in a battle of heavyweights against Antoni Hardonk.

Aurelio will clearly be the favorite in this fight against Guida. However, based off his performance against Tyson Griffin at UFC 72 I think Guida will make this a very competitive fight.

Aurelio is 14-4 and most recently appeared on several Pride Bushido cards. He has excellent Jiu-Jitsu and holds wins over Rich Clementi and Takanori Gomi (although Gomi defeated Aurelio in the rematch the last time he fought in November). 

I believe Aurelio has competed at 161 pounds in Pride but is more likely to cut to 155 pounds in the UFC as opposed to going up to 170. This isn’t a major signing, but it’s a good one and adds depth to an already deep UFC lightweight division.