Josh Culibao is the newest member of the UFC roster.
The undefeated Australia-based featherweight will move up to 155 pounds for his promotional debut when he takes on Jalin Turner at UFC on ESPN+ 26.
A person with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking on Wednesday. The person asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Turner (8-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) originally was supposed to fight Jamie Mullarkey, who recently withdrew due to injury. Turner looks to get back in the win column after dropping a decision to Matt Frevola at UFC 236 in April.
Instead of Mullarkey, Turner will face off against Culibao (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Many believe Culibao to be the best 145 pounder on the Australia-New Zealand regional scene. The 25-year-old has five TKOs and three decisions in eight victories. He most recently competed in March.
UFC on ESPN+ 26 takes place Feb. 22 (Sunday, Feb. 23 locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The card streams on ESPN+.
The latest UFC on ESPN+ 26 lineup now includes:
- Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
- Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell
- Kevin Aguilar vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
- Josh Culibao vs. Jalin Turner
- Jake Matthews vs. Emil Meek
- Song Kenan vs. Callan Potter
- Kai Kara-France vs. Tyson Nam
- Angela Hill vs. Loma Lookboonmee
- Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Shana Dobson
