Wood Faces Undefeated Replacement After Santos Pulls Out

Nathaniel Wood has a new opponent for UFC Paris this Saturday. The Ultimate Fighter Season 32 winner Mairon Santos withdrew from their scheduled bout, and undefeated Moldovan finisher Pavel Andrusca accepted the short-notice replacement, MMA Mania reports.

Andrusca carries an unblemished 8-0 record into his octagon debut, with seven consecutive finishes and six career knockouts. The 24-year-old most recently flattened Gexipengchu with a first-round right hand at UAE Warriors 72 in July. He has spent his entire career at bantamweight and now moves up a weight class with less than a week to prepare.

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Wood's Ranking On The Line Against Debuting Finisher

Wood holds the No. 8 ranking at featherweight and brings a four-fight winning streak into the Accor Arena. The Englishman has beaten Losene Keita, Jose Delgado, Morgan Charriere and Daniel Pineda during his current run and owns an 11-3 UFC record overall.

The replacement arguably puts more pressure on Wood than his original booking. He must now defend his spot in the top ten against an unknown quantity, a 5-foot-6 finisher with an 88 percent stoppage rate whom most fans have never seen fight.

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Andrusca has stopped five opponents in the first round. UFC Paris airs live from Paris on September 5, with Dan Hooker and Salahdine Parnasse headlining the card.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — TUF winner out of UFC Paris, undefeated knockout artist steps in on short notice