Bantamweight prospect Michael McDonald steps in for Yamamoto; takes on Chris Cariaso at UFC 130

One door closes and another one opens.

Recently, it has been announced that Japanese star “Kid” Yamamoto was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bantamweight bout with Chris Cariaso when he was plagued by injury.

However, an adequate replacement has been found as bantamweight prospect Michael McDonald has agreed to step up on short notice for the pay-per-view event: ufc 130, which takes place on May 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Yamamoto recently took to twitter to announce that he would be forced to withdraw from his sophomore debut within the organization, and the UFC later confirmed the news and the subsequent replacement of Norifumi:

“Kid Yamamoto has withdrawn from his May 28th bout vs Chris Cariaso due to injury,” said UFC President Dana White. “In his place will be UFC’s youngest fighter and one of it’s most exciting, Michael McDonald, who is coming off a recent Fight of The Night performance. Chris Cariaso carries a great record of his own with a fast style and he plans on cementing his place in the bantamweight division with a win over the highly touted prospect. Both have verbally agreed to the fight.”

McDonald was last seen inside the cage when he took on Edwin Figueroa at UFC Fight Night 24 this past March. The bout was a featured attraction on Facebook and quickly grew interest amongst the fans as the two men traded fast, sharp strikes on the feet, before McDonald mixed up the action by taking down Edwin to the ground time and time again. McDonald attempted several submissions, several seemingly close, though Edwin hung tough and took Michael to the bouts end. Michael won a clear cut decision win, though both walked away with the evenings “Fight of the Night” award.

Michael’s opponent, Chris Cariaso, is now stranger to the octagon either, and will surely be looking to build upon his own career with a potential victory over the budding prospect. Chris managed to pick up his second victory under the Zuffa umbrella upon his UFC debut when he met with fellow WEC veteran Will Campuzano at “UFC: Fight for the Troops 2″ this past January. Chris was able to outpoint the wily striker and in the end eked out a decision victory. The win helped Chris bounce back from a disappointing submission loss to Renan Barao at WEC 53 last December, though he was still the select few fighters whom were handpicked to be part of the merge once the WEC assimilated with it’s sister promotion, the UFC.

Now, the two men will be looking to build upon their initial UFC wins with hopes to becoming contenders in an ever growing bantamweight class, which will soon be searching for new viable faces to challenge for the title in the future.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the news? Who do you favor? Sound off in the comment section below.