Middleweight Jacob Malkoun has a new opponent for the UFC’s September 23, 2023 Fight Night event.
Originally slated to face promotional newcomer Robert Bryczek, in the wake of Bryczek withdrawing, Malkoun (7-2) has instead been paired up with Cody Brundage (8-5), who steps up on just shy of three weeks’ notice.
Both fighters confirmed the booking on their respective Instagram Stories following an initial report by Eurosport. No reason was given for Bryczek’s exit from the fight.
Malkoun had first hinted at the change of opponent a few days back, writing on social media that “The new knockout artist has pulled out also. Looks like there’s a new opponent for the same date. I’ll be ready regardless.”
Sitting at 3-2 in the promotion through his first five fights, Australia’s Malkoun enters the fight off an October win against Nick Maximov. Unfortunately for the Australian, he’s missing the UFC 293 card in Sydney, Australia by just a couple of weeks.
Brundage has lost three straight fights, most recently falling to SD Dumas in June. That puts him in must-win territory later this month, with his job almost certainly on the line.
UFC Vegas 79 on Sept. 23, 2023 is expected to be headlined by Rafael Fiziev vs. Mateusz Gamrot in a key lightweight bout. The following match-ups have been reported for the event thus far:
- Rafael Fiziev vs. Mateusz Gamrot
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Dan Ige
- Tim Means vs. André Fialho
- Bryan Battle vs. AJ Fletcher
- Miles Johns vs. Dan Argueta
- Montserrat Rendon vs. Tamires Vidal
- Ricardo Ramos vs. Charles Jourdain
- Mohammed Usman vs. Jake Collier
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Hannah Goldy
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
- Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Cody Brundage
