The silver lining in Andre Ewell being removed from this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 18 card: he’s landed on an even bigger event.
On Monday, Cageside Press confirmed with sources close to the situation that Ewell would face Chris Gutierrez at the event this Saturday, February 13. Gutierrez’s team, Factory X, initially announced the booking on social media. The fight will be held at a 140lb catchweight.
Ewell (17-6) had been expected to face Cody Stamann as part of the UFC’s return to Las Vegas over the weekend. However, a positive COVID-19 test saw him removed from the card. Although Ewell would later test negative, UFC health and safety protocols require a ten day pause between the time a fighter tests positive, and any return to competition.
That eliminated Ewell from competing at UFC Vegas 18, but with a negative test in hand, he’s cleared the ten day requirement and eligible to fight on this weekend’s card.
When Ewell finally steps into the octagon, he’ll be riding a two fight win streak that saw the bantamweight secure wins over Jonathan Martinez and Irwin Rivera in 2020. Both fights went the distance, both resulted in split decisions in favor of Ewell.
Gutierrez (15-4-2) is 3-1-1 in his UFC tenure to date. After losing his octagon debut in 2018 to Raoni Barcelos, the Factory X fighter went on to win three straight. He suffered a setback in his last outing, however, ending up with a draw against Cody Durden at UFC Vegas 5. That fight marked his return to the 135lb division, after a single fight at featherweight in May, when Gutierrez finished Vince Morales with leg kicks.
The UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns card takes place this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The highly anticipated welterweight title fight between champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Gilbert Burns tops the card. The current line-up is as follows:
Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Gilbert Burns
Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Ian Heinisch
Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
Maki Pitolo vs. Julian Marquez
Yancy Medeiros vs. Jim Miller
Rodolfo Viera vs. Anthony Hernandez
Belal Muhammad vs. Dhiego Lima
Polyana Viana vs. Mallory Martin
Ricky Simon vs. Brian Kelleher
Gabriel Green vs. Philip Rowe
Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick
Andre Ewell vs. Chris Gutierrez