With Renato Moicano injured and out of his main event fight with Arman Tsarukyan on April 29, the UFC has been left scrambling to find a replacement.
With no new opponent for Tsarukyan introducing themselves (at least not one the promotion saw fit), a bantamweight fight originally scheduled a week earlier to serve as the new main event of the Fight Night card was postponed.
That fight sees No. 8-ranked Song Yadong paired with No. 10-ranked Ricky Simon.
UFC officials announced the move on Monday. Yadong vs. Simon as co-main event on April 22, a card headlined by giants Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes.
Both events are expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, so the changes are minor for the duo, aside from throwing off their timing a bit.
Yadong (19-7-1, 1NC) is coming off a loss to Corey Sandhagen that saw the fight halted due to nasty cuts suffered by the Chinese bantamweight. That unfortunate end snapped Yadong’s three-game winning streak.
Simon (20-3) has won five in a row, and recently became the first fighter to defeat Welsh standout Jack Shore.
The UFC event on April 29, 2023 (UFC Fight Night 223 for those counting) currently consists of the following matches:
- Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon
- Caio Boralho vs. Michael Oleksczuk
- Rodolfo Vieira vs Cody Brundage
- Emilie Ducot vs. Pollyana-Vianna
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Waldo Curtis Acosta
- Joshua Quinlan vs. Angie Llosa
- Martin Boday vs. Jake Collier
- Julián Erosa vs. Julián Erosa Fernando Padilla
- Nathan Levy vs. Rodriguez House
- Cody Durden vs. Charles Johnson
- Stephanie Egger vs. Irina Alexeva
- Brian Keeler vs. Journey Newson
- Hailey Kwan vs. Jamie Lynn Hurth