Nebraskan Ryan Jensen (11-1) has been tapped to replace an injured Marvin Eastman at Oct. 20’s UFC 77 “Hostile Territory” at the U. S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jensen, 30, challenges his second jiu-jitsu standout inside the Octagon in just under two months with Demian Maia, an Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Champion making his UFC debut. Maia (5-0) dispatched striker Curtis Stout at the Gracie Fighting Championship in May, also in Ohio.
On the short end of a three-minute submission to Nova Uniao’s Thales Leites (12-1) at UFC 74 “Respect” Aug. 25 in Las Vegas, Nev., Jensen still managed to impress with his defensive tactics on the mat, and will likely look to expound on his stand-up abilities with Maia. A student of UFC 3 champion Steve Jennum, Jensen was cornered by Team Quest patriarch Matt Lindland during his latest turn.
