The UFC has found a replacement for David Branch at UFC on ESPN+16
Andrew Sanchez (11-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will now take on Marvin Vettori (13-3-1 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) on the main card in Vancouver.
Two persons with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie of the booking. The persons asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 16 takes place Sept. 14 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
“TUF 23” winner Sanchez (11-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will look to ride the momentum of a two-fight winning streak. After losing back-to-back fights to conclude 2017, Sanchez defeated Markus Perez and Marc-Andre Barriault in 2018.
Vettori has had a rollercoaster of a UFC career through five outings. After defeating Alberto Uda in spectacular fashion at UFC 202, Vettori lost to Antonio Carlos Junior. The 25-year-old middleweight rebounded in his next outing when he defeated Vitor Miranda. But in his past three outings, “The Italian Dream” has had a draw with Omari Akhmedov, lost to Israel Adesanya, and defeated Cezar Ferreira.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN+ 16 lineup includes:
- Donald Cerrone vs. Justin Gaethje
- Nikita Krylov vs. Glover Teixeira
- Andrew Sanchez vs. Marvin Vettori
- Augusto Sakai vs. Marcin Tybura
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Uriah Hall
- Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Jim Crute
- Ryan MacDonald vs. Louis Smolka
- Miles Johns vs. Cole Smith
- Austin Hubbard vs. Kyle Prepolec
- Sergey Khandozhko vs. Michael Pereira
