UFC 133: Constantinos Philippou Steps In For Injured Sakar, Rafael Natal Now Meets Newcomer Paul Bradley

With the knee injury to Alessio Sakara, the Ultimate Fighting Championship officials have been forced to shuffle the upcoming UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz card for the August event.
Stepping in for the injured Italian will be Constantinos ‘Costa’ Philippou (7-2, 1NC) who now moves up from facing Rafael ‘Sapo’ Natal on the prelim card, to facing Jorge ‘El Conquistador’ Rivera (19-8) on the nights main card.
With that change made and less than two weeks left before the event, UFC officials have also found an opponent for Natal (12-3-1) in newcomer Paul “The Gentleman” Bradley (16-2), who made a brief appearance on “The Ultimate Fighter” season 7. Both men have verbally agreed to the bout.
Details of the change were posted at UFC.com on Monday.

The injury bug has bitten UFC 133 again, with Alessio Sakara the latest casualty. Sakara’s removal from his bout with Jorge Rivera (the third time the bout has hit the skids), has opened up a main card slot for Greek slugger Costa Philippou, who will now face “El Conquistador” on the August 6th card in Philadelphia. Stepping in to face Philippou’s original opponent, Rafael Natal, will be 16-2, 1 NC Ultimate Fighter veteran Paul Bradley, who will be making his Octagon debut.

UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz is scheduled to take place on Aug. 6 atthe Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philippou made his UFC debut last March at UFC 128 in a 195 lb catchweight bout. ‘Costa’ lost a unanimous decision to Nick Catone at the event ending an eight-fight undefeated streak.
His opponent, Rivera, lost by TKO to Michael Bisping at UFC 127 this past February, ending his three fight win streak. ‘El Conquistador’s’ last victory was in March of last year, a TKO win over Nate Quarry at UFN 21. This is the third time that a bout with Sakara has been pulled due to injury or illness.
Natal has made two Octagon appearances and has yet to secure a victory. ‘Sapo’ fought Jesse Bongfeldt to a majority draw at UFC 124 and lost by decision to Rich Attonito at UFN 22.
Bradley made a brief appearance on the “TUF 7″ series but was pulled from the show due to a contagious skin condition. ‘The Gentleman’ is on a four-bout undefeated streak, having earned three straight submission wins and 1 “No Contest”.