Johnny Rees (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has agreed to replace Luke Cummo and will fight Steve Bruno (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the Dec. 10 "UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights For the Troops" event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned of the change over the weekend from a source close to Rees. The bout was first reported by fiveouncesofpain.com.

The fight is expected to be finalized this week.

UFC Fight Night 16, which airs live on Spike TV and serves as a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, takes place in conjunction with the Fort Bragg military institution in North Carolina.

The reason for Cummo's departure for the card wasn't immediately known.

His replacement, Rees, was one of many newcomers who debuted with the UFC after the organization put together a July 19 'UFC: Silva vs. Irvin" card to counter Affliction Entertainment's debut pay-per-view event. Rees, who began his career with 10 consecutive victory fighting for the Indiana-based Legends of Fighting (where he was the organization's welterweight champ), suffered a first-round submission loss (via triangle choke) to fellow UFC rookie Nate Loughran in his UFC debut.

All of Rees' 10 victories have come via stoppage -- eight via submission.

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