Bryce Mitchell is stepping in short notice.
With Giga Chikadze out due to a groin injury, Mitchell (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) inserts into the lineup opposite Josh Emmett (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in a featherweight contender prelim. The fight takes place as part of UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The promotion announced the change Wednesday.
Mitchell, 29, bounced back from a submission loss to Ilia Topuria when he defeated Dan Ige by unanimous decision in September.
Emmett, 38, looks to snap a two-fight losing skid. He most recently competed in June in a lopsided unanimous decision outing to Topuria. Prior to that, Emmett lost an interim title bout against Yair Rodriguez by submission.
With the change, the UFC 296 lineup includes:
- Champ Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
- Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Vicente Luque
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson
- Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell
- Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher
- Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev
- Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
