Gonzaga, Dunham Injured; Nelson-Herman, Barboza-Varner Set for UFC 146

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The UFC 146 landscape has shifted again, as promotion officials announced Tuesday night that Gabriel Gonzaga and Evan Dunham have both suffered injuries and will be unable to compete as anticipated at the May 26 event. Dave Herman and Jamie Varner will now face Roy Nelson and Edson Barboza in their stead.

UFC 146 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between reigning champion Junior dos Santos and former belt holder Frank Mir. The event sports an all-heavyweight main card and features a co-main event pitting Cain Velasquez against Antonio Silva.

Herman, 27, recently had a three-fight winning streak snapped when he was knocked out by Stefan Struve on Feb. 15 at UFC on Fuel TV 1. Prior to that defeat, the mobile heavyweight made a successful Octagon debut against John-Olav Einemo, finishing the Norwegian in the second round of their “Fight of the Night” winning contest at UFC 131 this past June.

A former World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight titlist, Varner makes his first UFC appearance since 2007. Following his 1-1 stint in the Octagon, the 27-year-old went on to capture and relinquish the WEC title before receiving his release from the promotion following the WEC’s final show in December 2010. Since his exit from the promotion, Varner has won three of his last four outings, most recently dispatching fellow UFC veteran Drew Fickett in just 40 seconds on Feb. 10.