Sean Sheehan 
Following the cancellation of his fight with Diego Sanchez at UFC 180, Norman Parke is yet again having to prepare for a new opponent as, the man he was scheduled to fight at UFC Boston, Jorge Masvidal has been forced to pull out of the bout because of injury. Instead, Parke will now fight Brazilian veteran Gleison Tibau. The UFC confirmed the news late last night.
Tibau is a training partner of Masvidal and one of the most experienced fighters on the roster. The Brazilian has fought 40 times, winning 30, and has been a constant in the UFC’s lightweight division for the last eight years.
For Parke it will still be the toughest fight of his career so far. The Northern Irishman has been ultra impressive in his undefeated Octagon career to date beating Colin Fletcher, John Tuck, Kazuki Takudome and Naoyuki Kotani along the way. Tibau, though, will bring a different sort of game than Parke has faced before and, with a win, will give him an opportunity to climb the highly competitive UFC lightweight ranks.
The UFC Fight Night 59 takes place at the TD Garden in Boston on January 18th and will be headlined by the featherweight clash of Dubliner Conor McGregor and German Dennis Siver while former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will fight former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez in the co-main event.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uea2kgUS3qI?feature=player_detailpage]
