The subtractions from UFC 205 are paying off dividends for other shows this year.
Donald Cerrone was pulled from his planned fight against Kelvin Gastelum on UFC 205 after Gastelum missed weight big time, and was banished to the UFC Middleweight division by UFC President Dana White. Cerrone was then moved to UFC 206 in Toronto, as he'll face Matt Brown, who was originally set for UFC 207 in Las Vegas.
Brown's original opponent, #13 Tarec Saffiedine (16-5) was left without an opponent on the big end-of-year show. The UFC has rectified this situation, as #10 Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1, 1 NC) has been slated with replacing Brown on the show. This is the sixth top-15 fight booked for the show.
Saffiedine is a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion who has had trouble staying active, only fighting four times since winning the Strikeforce title. He's stepped it up in the past year, and Kim will be his third fight of the year.
Kim is a longtime UFC fighter, having been with the company since May 2008. In that time, Kim has gained wins over the aforementioned Brown, Nate Diaz, TJ Grant and others. Kim has been out of the cage for a year, last defeating Dominic Waters in November 2015.
UFC 207 takes place December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes headlining.
