UFC 142 Fight Card: Ricardo Funch And Carlo Prater Tapped As Injury Replacements

Two additional fighters have joined the UFC ranks in an effort to fill the fight card of UFC 142.

Welterweight newcomers Ricardo Funch and Carlo Prater have agreed to match-up against UFC veterans Mike Pyle and Erick Silva, according to promotion officials. Funch replaces the injured Paulo Thiago on the night's undercard, while Prater replaces fellow Octagon neophyte Siyar Bahadurzada in a contest originally scheduled for the main card.

Funch (8-2), a Team Link product out of Ludlow, Massachusetts, last competed in the Octagon at UFC 115, where he capped an unsuccessful two-fight run with a second-round submission loss to Claude Patrick. Since then "Golden Boy" has rediscovered his winning ways, earning a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Quinn in an early-December local promotion.

Prater (29-10-1), meanwhile, debuts in the UFC on the heels of a four-fight win streak, all of which came by way of submission. A Strikeforce and WEC veteran, "Neo" trains out of Brazil and owns impressive victories over Melvin Guillard, Pat Healy, Spencer Fisher and UFC title challenger Carlos Condit.

UFC 142 takes place on January 14th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the HSBC Arena. Brazilian featherweight champion Jose Aldo duels American challenger Chad Mendes in the night's main event.

UFC 142 fight card:

Main card (Pay-per-view):
Featherweight Championship: Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes
Middleweight: Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
Middleweight: Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
Welterweight: Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater
Lightweight: Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim

Preliminary card (FX):
Lightweight: Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
Heavyweight: Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Welterweight: Mike Pyle vs. Ricardo Funch
Light heavyweight: Caio Magalhaes vs. Fabio Maldonado
Featherweight: Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho
Featherweight: Michihiro Omigawa vs. Yuri Alcantara