Just hours after news broke that Thiago Alves had to pull out of his UFC 111 main card fight with Jon Fitch due to a failed CT scan, multiple sources are now reporting that Fitch will instead fight Ben Saunders on the main card. Saunders already had a main card fight against Jake Ellenberger, but he was apparently eager to fight Fitch. Ellenberger will reportedly be paid his show-money plus a win bonus and will simply be removed from the card.

MMA Junkie had the initial report:

Multiple sources today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the change to Saturday’s card, which takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

A source told MMAjunkie.com said Saunders specifically asked for the new bout when Fitch became available.

Ellenberger has been promised his “show” and “win” money to make up for the UFC’s last-minute switch, we’re told.

An official announcement is expected any time now from the UFC.

Fitch and Saunders hinted at the fight on their respective Twitter acounts soon after that news broke.

The revised UFC 111 card now includes:
Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy
Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin
Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek

On Spike:
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham

Prelims:
Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal
Jarred Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace
Matthew Riddle vs. Greg Soto

by Scott Haber of BloodyElbow.com