Isi Fitikefu’s UFC debut will have to wait.
Fitikefu has been forced out of UFC Fight Night on Jan. 20 and Markus Perez (12-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) will step in on short notice to face Dalcha Lungiambula (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Ag Fight was first to report the news.
Brazil’s Perez has dropped two straight, most recently a first-round knockout loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC on ESPN+ 37 in October. Prior to his losing skid, he submitted Anthony Hernandez in the second round at UFC on ESPN+ 2.
Former EFC two-weight champion Lungiambula has split his first two UFC appearances. After scoring a stoppage of Dequan Townsend in his UFC debut in June 2019, he suffered a knockout loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC on ESPN+ 21. He was scheduled to face Karl Roberson next but saw multiple bookings scrapped after Roberson tested positive for COVID-19.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Jan. 20 includes:
- Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny
- Viviane Araujo vs. Roxanne Modafferi
- Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell
- Francisco Figueredo vs. Jerome Rivera
- Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
- Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Su Mudaerji
- Lerone Murphy vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
- Vinicius Moreira vs. Ike Villanueva
- Manon Fiorot vs. Victoria Leonardo
- Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Markus Perez
