Luis Pena won’t be facing Alex Munoz at UFC on ESPN+ 27.
Luckily for “Violent Bob Ross,” a UFC newcomer has stepped up and accepted the lightweight fight in Norfolk, Va. On days’ notice, Steve Garcia has stepped in to take on Pena (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), after Munoz withdrew Friday due to injury.
Two persons with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Monday, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.
On the most recent season of Dana White’s Contender Series, Garcia (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) accepted a bantamweight fight, but missed the mark on the scale. He won the fight by TKO, but was not signed due to his weight cut mishap. Since that time, Garcia moved to featherweight and defeated Jose Mariscal by second-round TKO at LFA 80.
With the change, the current UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
- Zarah Fairn vs. Felicia Spencer
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
- Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont
- Grant Dawson vs. Darrick Minner
- Kyler Phillips vs. Gabriel Silva
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
- Brendan Allen vs. Tom Breese
- Steve Garcia vs. Luis Pena
- Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura
- TJ Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
- Spike Carlyle vs. Aalon Cruz
- Sean Brady vs. Ismail Naurdiev
