Brendan Allen will step in to take on an unbeaten prospect in July.
Anthony Hernandez has been forced out of UFC Fight Night on June 26 and Allen (16-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will step in to face Puna Soriano (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a new scheduled date on July 24.
A person with knowledge of the booking told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. They asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was first to report the news.
Allen, a former LFA middleweight champion, has won eight of his past nine. After getting stopped by Sean Strickland for his first UFC loss in November, he rebounded with a first-round ankle lock submission of Karl Roberson at UFC 261 in April.
The undefeated Soriano, who punched his ticket to the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series, is off to a hot start in the octagon. He is coming off back-to-back first-round knockouts of Oskar Piechota and most recently Dusko Todorovic at UFC on ABC 1 in January.
With the addition, the UFC’s July 24 lineup now includes:
- T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen
- Maycee Barber vs. Miranda Maverick
- Macy Chiasson vs. Aspen Ladd
- Trevin Jones vs. Tony Kelley
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Kyler Phillips
- Mickey Gall vs. Jordan Williams
- Randy Costa vs. Adrian Yanez
- Ian Heinisch vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Julio Arce vs. Andre Ewell
- Darren Elkins vs. Darrick Minner
- Brendan Allen vs. Puna Soriano
