Mounir Lazzez won’t get to make his U.S. debut just yet.
Lazzez (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has been forced out of UFC on ESPN 28 due to visa issues and Jared Gooden (17-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC) is targeted to step in on short notice to face Niklas Stolze (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on Saturday.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Tuesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Stolze took to Instagram Tuesday night to vent his frustration at the lack of communication between Lazzez’s camp and the UFC, where he only found out about the withdrawal on fight week.
Lazzez wasn’t happy with Stolze’s initial comments, vowing to make him pay whenever they cross paths.
Germany’s Stolze will be in search of his first UFC win. The 28-year-old saw his four-fight winning streak snapped in his promotional debut when he dropped a unanimous decision to Ramazan Emeev at UFC on ESPN 14 in July.
After dropping back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Alan Jouban and Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Gooden will also be in search of his first UFC win. A Titan FC, LFA, and Island Fights veteran, “Nite Train” has finished 13 of his 17 pro wins.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 28 card lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
- Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland
- Niklas Stolze vs. Jared Gooden
- Cheyanne Buys vs. Gloria de Paula
- Kyung Ho Kang vs. Rani Yahya
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
- Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Nicco Montano vs. Wu Yanan
- Collin Anglin vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
- Rafa Garcia vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
- Danny Chavez vs. Kai Kamaka
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Ashley Yoder
- Trevin Jones vs. Ronnie Lawrence
- Orion Cosce vs. Phil Rowe
