Visa issues force changes at UFC Fight Night 70, UFC 190 (updated)

The United States visa system has faced technical issues recently, and that affected the UFC’s next card in the country.

The UFC Fight Night 70 card, scheduled for June 27, was moved from Sao Paulo to Hollywood, but several Brazilian fighters won’t be able to make it to Florida due to visa issues, including the four TUF Brazil 4 finalists.

The reality show finals will be moved to UFC 190, set for Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro. In the bantamweight division, Dileno Lopes faces the winner of Reginaldo Vieira vs. Bruno Rodrigues, while Glaico Franca meets the winner of Nazareno Malegarie vs. Fernando Bruno for the lightweight crown.

Sources close to the situation confirmed the change to MMAFighting.com following a report by Combate.

According to the report, Erick Silva vs. Rick Story was pulled from the UFC Fight Night 70, and Antonio Carlos Jr. now co-headlines the event against Eddie Gordon. Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Nikita Krylov could also be cancelled due to visa issues.

Update: UFC officially announced the changes on Friday, making Lorenz Larkin vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio the new co-main event, and adding Steve Montgomery vs. Tony Sims to the lineup. Rani Yahya vs. Masanori Kanehara, originally booked for June 27, was moved to the July 15 UFC card in San Diego.

The UFC has reportedly added a pair of bouts to the Hollywood card. Coming off a big win over K.J. Noons, Alex Oliveira takes on 6-0 newcomer Joe Merritt. In the lightweight division, Leandro Silva meets Lewis Gonzalez.

Check the complete UFC Fight Night 70 and UFC 190 fight cards below.

UFC Fight Night 70 in Hollywood, Fla., on June 27:

Lyoto Machida vs. Yoel Romero
Lorenz Larkin vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Eddie Gordon
Alex Oliveira vs. Joe Merritt
Leandro Silva vs. Lewis Gonzalez
Thiago Santos vs. Steve Bosse
Hacran Dias vs. Levan Makashvili
Viscardi Andrade vs. Andreas Stahl
Steve Montgomery vs. Tony Sims

UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 1:

Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Stefan Struve
TUF Brazil 4 lightweight final
TUF Brazil 4 bantamweight final
Antonio Silva vs. Soa Palelei
Rafael Cavalcante vs. Patrick Cummins
Vitor Miranda vs. Clint Hester
Demian Maia vs. Neil Magny
Hugo Viana vs. Guido Cannetti
Claudia Gadelha vs. Jessica Aguilar
Iuri Alcantara vs. Leandro Issa