Jared Cannonier’s middleweight debut will come a little sooner, as he will step in to face David Branch at UFC 230 after Jacare was bumped up to the co-main event.
The shuffling of the deck at UFC 230 means David Branch is getting a new opponent. Thanks to Luke Rockhold being forced off the card due to injury (several, actually), Jacare Souza was bumped up to the co-main event opposite Chris Weidman. That left fellow middleweight Branch without a dance partner, as he was originally set to meet Souza. Enter Jared Cannonier. He’ll take on Branch, as was first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Cannonier (10-4) will be making his debut in a third weight class in the UFC in the fight. Originally scheduled to face Alessio Di Chirico at 185lbs in November at UFC Fight Night 140, the timetable for his middleweight debut moves forward a couple weeks. Cannonier started out his UFC career at heavyweight, only to drop to light heavyweight after going 1-1 in the heaviest division. At 205lbs Cannonier went 2-3, but is coming off back-to-back losses against Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes.
David Branch (22-4), meanwhile, is coming off a knockout win over Thiago Santos at UFC Atlantic City in April. The former two-division WSOF champion is currently on a 12-1 streak, with his only loss coming to former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.
UFC 230 takes place November 30 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
