After being dropped from this Saturday’s UFC Sao Paulo card when opponent David Onama pulled out of their fight, Lucas Alexander has been quickly rebooked.
Alexander (8-3) will now face Road to UFC 1 finalist Jeka Saragih (13-3) in a featherweight fight at UFC Vegas 82 on November 18, 2023 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV.
Promotion officials recently announced the pairing on their official website. Both Onama and Alexander had previously announced that their fight was off.
“David Onama has been removed from his featherweight bout with Lucas Alexander. As a result, this bout has been removed from this weekend’s card and Alexander will now face Jeka Saragih on November 18 for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: ALLEN vs CRAIG,” a brief statement by the promotion advised.
Brazil’s Alexander is 1-1 in the promotion thus far, picking up his first win under the UFC banner when he defeated the popular Steven “Ocho” Peterson this past March. Alexander previously competed for Island Fights and Anthony Pettis FC, among others.
Indonesia’s Saragih competed as a lightweight in the Road to UFC 1 tournament, coming up short in the final against Anshul Jubli. Despite that, he’s been given a crack at the UFC, and was previously booked against Jesse Butler on November 18, only for Butler to withdraw from the fight.
Saragih was then briefly linked to a match-up with Charlie Campbell, which also fizzled. With both men in need of new opponents, things have worked out in the end.
UFC Vegas 82 is set to be headlined by Brendan Allen and Paul Craig in a middleweight match-up. The following pairings have been reported for the card:
- Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig
- Michael Morales vs. Jake Matthews
- Chase Hooper vs. Jordan Leavitt
- Payton Talbott vs. Nick Aguirre
- Luana Pinheiro vs. Amanda Ribas
- Jonny Parsons vs. Uroš Medić
- Jonathan Pearce vs. Joanderson Brito
- Chad Anheliger vs. Jose Johnson
- César Almeida vs. Christian Leroy Duncan
- Mick Parkin vs. Caio Machado
- Lucie Pudilová vs. Ailín Pérez
- Trey Ogden vs. Nikolas Motta
- Charles Johnson vs. Rafael Estevam
- Lucas Alexander vs. Jeka Saragih
