UFC heavyweight Josh Parisian unexpectedly lost a fight this week, but it didn’t take long for him to get a new one.
Parisian is set to meet Martin Buday at a UFC Fight Night event Aug. 12 at the UFC Apex. Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking Friday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Josh Parisian has been quickly rebooked following his #UFCVegas77 fight’s cancellation, I’m told. He’ll fight Martin Buday at #UFCVegas78 on Aug. 12, per multiple sources. Story headed to @MMAJunkie. pic.twitter.com/PxzZH4ENX5
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) July 14, 2023
Parisian (15-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) had been scheduled to fight Walt Harris on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 49, but the fight was unexpectedly canceled after Harris was removed because of a flagged drug test by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Parisian, 34, entered the UFC after an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020. Since then, he’s alternated losses and wins, with his most recent Feb. 18 fight a unanimous decision defeat to Jamal Pogues.
Buday (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), also a Contender Series alum, is on an 11-fight overall winning streak and hasn’t tasted defeat since 2018. He’s won three decisions since joining the UFC, including most recently a unanimous victory over Jake Collier on April 29.
With the addition, here’s the UFC Fight Night lineup on Aug. 12:
- Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos
- Juliana Miller vs. Luana Santos
- JP Buys vs. Marcus McGhee
- AJ Dobson vs. Tafon Nchukwi
- Mike Breeden vs. Lando Vannata
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Montserrat Conejo
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Polyana Viana
- Isaac Dulgarian vs. Francis Marshall
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Brady Hiestand
- Hakeem Dawodu vs. Cub Swanson
- Martin Buday vs. Josh Parisian
