With Renato Moicano injured and out of his main event fight with Arman Tsarukyan on April 29, the UFC was left scrambling to find a replacement.
With no new opponent for Tsarukyan presenting themselves (at least not one the promotion saw as suitable), a bantamweight fight originally scheduled a week earlier has been pushed back to serve as the new main event for the Fight Night card.
That fight sees #8-ranked 135’er Song Yadong paired up with #10-ranked Ricky Simon.
UFC officials announced the move on Monday. Yadong vs. Simon had been set as the co-main event on April 22, a card that is headlined by heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes.
Both events are expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, so the changes are minimal for the duo, outside of throwing their timing off a bit.
Yadong (19-7-1, 1NC) is coming off a loss to Cory Sandhagen that saw the fight stopped due to a nasty gash suffered by the Chinese bantamweight. That unfortunate ending snapped a three-fight win streak for Yadong.
Simon (20-3) has won five straight, and most recently became the first fighter to defeat Welsh standout Jack Shore.
The UFC’s April 29, 2023 Event (UFC Fight Night 223 for those counting) currently consists of the following match-ups:
- Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon
- Caio Borralho vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
- Rodolfo Vieira vs. Cody Brundage
- Emily Ducote vs. Polyana Viana
- Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
- Joshua Quinlan vs. Ange Loosa
- Martin Buday vs. Jake Collier
- Julian Erosa vs. Fernando Padilla
- Natan Levy vs. Pete Rodriguez
- Cody Durden vs. Charles Johnson
- Stephanie Egger vs. Irina Alekseeva
- Brian Kelleher vs. Journey Newson
- Hailey Cowan vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth
