This weekend’s UFC 288 card has taken a sizable hit, as Bryce Mitchell is out of his fight with Movsar Evloev.
Stepping up to replace Mitchell on short notice is Diego Lopes, per a report by ESPN.
An undisclosed injury reportedly forced Mitchell out of the fight. He had originally been scheduled against Jonathan Pearce, who was himself forced to withdraw from the featherweight bout.
Lopes (21-5) enters UFC 288 having won his last two fights, outside of the UFC. He appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, losing to Joanderson Brito, who picked up a contract that night.
Evloev (16-0), a former M-1 champ, is undefeated both in the UFC and in his professional career to date. Most recently, he picked up a win over Hawaii’s Dan Ige.
UFC 288 goes down Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. A bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo headlines. The following match-ups have been reported for the card thus far:
- Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Henry Cejudo — for the UFC bantamweight championship
- Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
- Jéssica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
- Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark
- Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter
- Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Rafael Estevam vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
- Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Muñoz Jr.
- Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
