Jai Herbert will get a shot at the big leagues.
Herbert (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the Cage Warriors lightweight champion, has stepped in to replace an injured Stevie Ray (23-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC) to take on Marc Diakiese (14-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN+ 29. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with a person with knowledge of the matchup following an initial reported from Newsome.
UFC on ESPN+ 29 takes place March 21 at The O2 in London. The card streams on ESPN+.
Herbert won the vacant Cage Warriors lightweight belt this past summer when he stopped Jack Grant. Ag Cage Warriors 109 this past October, he defended it with a first-round finish of former UFC and Bellator fighter Cain Carrizosa. The 31-year-old is on a six-fight winning streak.
Diakiese, a former BAMMA lightweight champion, has back-to-back decision wins over Joseph Duffy and Lando Vannata. Prior to that, the 26-year-old was on a three-fight losing skid.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN+ 29 lineup now includes:
- Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards
- Paul Craig vs. Ryan Spann
- Gabriel Benitez vs. Lerone Murphy
- Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Molly McCann
- John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic
- Tom Aspinall vs. Raphael Pessoa
- Darren Stewart vs. Marvin Vettori
- Nicolas Dalby vs. Danny Roberts
- Marc Diakiese vs. Jai Herbert
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy
- Geraldo de Freitas vs. Jack Shore
