There’s short notice and then there’s no notice.
The UFC is working on a fight that will get James Krause as close as he can to a “no-notice” fight at UFC 247. After Antonio Arroyo was taken to the hospital following Friday’s morning weigh-ins ahead of his scheduled fight against Trevin Giles (11-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC), Krause (27-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC) volunteered to step up in his place.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the last-minute fight booking, which is in the works. They asked to remain anonymous since the bout is still being finalized and the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Krause is riding a six-fight winning streak. He most recently competed in November. Against Sergio Moraes in hostile territory, Krause put on a striking clinic en route to a third-round TKO victory.
A Houston police officer, Giles won’t miss out on a homecoming, should this bout get finalized. Instead, he’ll potentially look to snap his two-fight skid against a welterweight-turned-middleweight.
UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
With the change, the UFC 247 lineup includes:
Main card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes – for light heavyweight title
- Champ Valentina Shevchenko vs. Katlyn Chookagian – for women’s featherweight title
- Juan Adams vs. Justin Tafa
- Mirsad Bektic vs. Dan Ige
- Ilir Latifi vs. Derrick Lewis
Preliminary card (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)
- Trevin Giles vs. James Krause
- Andrea Lee vs. Lauren Murphy
- Alex Morono vs. Kalinn Williams
- Mario Bautista vs. Miles Johns
Preliminary card (ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
- Journey Newson vs. Domingo Pilarte
- Andre Ewell vs. Jonathan Martinez
- Austin Lingo vs. Youssef Zalal
