Up-and-coming lightweight Jeremy Stephens (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will replace Hermes Franca (19-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night 17 bout with Joe Lauzon (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

Multiple sources close to the fighter today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Stephens has officially accepted the bout, which takes place Feb. 7 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. The night's main card airs on Spike TV.

Franca was forced off the card this week after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee.

Stephens, who's recently been training with Franca, is also currently scheduled to fight "The Ultimate Fighter 8" winner Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 18. He still plans to compete in that April 1 event, health permitting, a source said.

The Franca-Lauzon bout had been scheduled as the night's main event. Despite the replacement, the Stephens-Lauzon fight will likely retain headline status.

Following a loss to Din Thomas in his octagon debut, Stephens posted three consecutive victories (which included UFC wins over Diego Saraiva and Cole Miller) before suffering a hard-fought unanimous-decision loss to Spencer Fisher in June 2008. However, he rebounded in November with a violent third-round TKO of Rafael dos Anjos that earned the 22-year-old Stephens a $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.

Lauzon, who found his way to the UFC via "The Ultimate Fighter 5," last saw action in a second-round-TKO win over Kyle Bradley at UFC Fight Night 15 in September. He was rebounding from an April defeat -- his first in the octagon -- to Kenny Florian. He's won seven of his past eight fights, all via stoppage.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/13839/jeremy-stephens-to-replace-hermes-franca-at-ufc-fight-night-17.mma