Cancer survivor Ryan Dickson replaces Ryan Chiappe, meets Marcus Vinicius on World Series of Fighting 7

VANCOUVER (Nov. 25, 2013) – With injury forcing Ryan Chiappe to withdraw from next week’s World Series of Fighting 7 event, cancer survivor Ryan Dickson (6-1) has agreed to step in on short notice.

The 24-year-old Dickson now meets Marcus Vinicius (9-6) on the preliminary card of the Dec. 7 event, which takes place at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

“We wish Ryan Chiappe a speedy recovery and hope to see him fight for us at some point in the future,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “But our team at World Series of Fighting Canada went quickly to work and did a fantastic job in securing Ryan Dickson for our card. Dickson is an impressive young prospect with an incredible story as a cancer survivor, and this could be his opportunity to really make a name for himself. I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings to the decagon.”

Featuring Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer for the promotion’s first-ever featherweight title, the four-bout main card for “World Series of Fighting 7: Karakhanyan vs. Palmer” airs live on NBCSN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The night’s six-bout preliminary card streams live on World Series of Fighting’s official website, WSOF.com starting at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Tickets for World Series of Fighting 7, which start at just $29, are available at TicketLeader.ca.  Doors for the event open at 2 p.m. PT, and the first fight will start at 3 p.m. PT.

Dickson, of Hamilton, Ontario, currently trains with Joslin’s Mixed Martial Arts and Burlington’s Tapout Training Centre. The welterweight has built an impressive 6-1 record that includes five wins by submission and one by knockout. However, Dickson’s most remarkable win to date is a victory over testicular cancer, which briefly threatened to derail his career.

Meanwhile, Vinicius is a transplanted Brazilian and son of the famed capoeira legend Mestre Barrao who now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

With the change to the card, World Series of Fighting 7 now includes:

NBCSN-TELEVISED MAIN CARD

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer – for inaugural WSOF featherweight title

Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor – middleweight tournament semifinal

Sabah Fadai vs. Nick Newell

Dwayne Lewis vs. Kalib Starnes

WSOF.COM-STREAMED PRELIMINARY CARD

Shawn Albrecht vs. Josh Machan

Michael Hill vs. Richard Arsenault

Matt Baker vs. David Perron

Ryan Dickson vs. Marcus Vinicius

Dan Ring vs. Myles Merola

Micah Brakefield vs. Brendan Kornberger