Following the shock retirement of Jimmy “The Brick” Flick over the weekend, Francisco Figueiredo was left without an opponent for the UFC’s May 8 Fight Night card.
That, however, was quickly remedied on Monday. First reported by Ag.Fight, replacing Flick will be recent UFC debutant JP Buys. Buys confirmed the booking on social media, thanking his manager and the promotion’s matchmakers for affording him the quick turnaround, short-notice fight.
Buys (9-3), who won his way into the UFC as part of Dana White’s Contender Series last year, made his octagon debut just last month. It did not go as planned. Competing on the same card as wife Cheyanne, also making her promotional debut, Buys lost via knockout against Bruno Silva. The loss snapped a five-fight win streak for Buys.
With Cheyanne Buys also losing that night, there’s little surprise at seeing either fighter chomping at the bit for a short turnaround. But when he does return on May 8, the South African known as “Young Savage” will go up against Francisco Figueiredo. Brother of UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo, Francisco (12-3-1) won his own promotional debut earlier this year on Fight Island.
Thanks to the switch-up in opponents, the UFC’s May 8 card now breaks down as follows:
Cory Sandhagen vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Jun Yong Park vs. Tafon Nchukwi
Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
Maurice Greene vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima[
Christian Aguilera vs. Carlston Harris
Damir Hadžović vs. Nikolas Motta
Diego Sanchez vs. Donald Cerrone
Ben Rothwell vs. Philipe Lins
Angela Hill vs. Amanda Ribas
Neil Magny vs. Geoff Neal
Michael Trizano vs. Ľudovít Klein
Francisco Figueiredo vs. JP Buys
