A couple of fight cancelations have led to an entertaining middleweight clash.
MMA Fighting was the first to report the news that Anthony Hernandez and Dricus Du Plessis will fight at UFC 273 on April 9. Hernandez was originally booked against Albert Dureav, and Du Plessis was matched with Chris Curtis; however, they both suffered injuries. A source close to the situation later confirmed the booking to Cageside Press.
Hernandez (7-2) has been plagued with injuries since pulling off his massive upset win against four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Rodolfo Vieira. He submitted the jiu Jitsu ace in the second round at UFC 258. “Fluffy” was supposed to return in June and December, but injuries forced him to take the year off.
Du Plessis (16-2) has been fantastic in his two UFC outings so far. He knocked out Markus Perez in his UFC debut in 2020 on ‘Fight Island’ and then knocked out Trevin Giles at UFC 264. The South African was supposed to cap off his 2021 at UFC 269 against Andre Muniz; however, an injury forced him off the card.
April’s UFC 273 card is going down in Jacksonville, Florida at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The following bouts have been reported for the event thus far:
- Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. The Korean Zombie – for the UFC featherweight championship
- Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan (ic) – for the UFC bantamweight championship
- Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Irene Aldana vs. Aspen Ladd
- Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks
- Dricus du Plessis vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
- Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
- Gavin Tucker vs. Pat Sabatini
- Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos
- Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen
