Kris Moutinho’s return to the UFC cage won’t be coming soon after all. The bantamweight has reportedly been removed from his October 23rd bout against Aaron Phillips due to injury and will be replaced by Jonathan Martinez.
News of the change was first reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie. The new pairing joins a UFC card that does not have a confirmed location at the moment.
It is not known at the moment what injury specifically forced Moutinho off the card. The CES and CFFC alum was looking to bounce back from his UFC debut, which was a third-round stoppage loss against Sean O’Malley.
Martinez is taking the booking after an early September matchup against Marcelo Rojo fell through. He’ll be coming back from a finish loss he took in March against Davey Grant.
Now with a new opponent, Phillips will be hunting for his first UFC win. He returned to the promotion last year, getting submitted in a bout against undefeated prospect Jack Shore. His two stints in the promotion have resulted in three losses.
UFC’s October 23rd event is currently set to be headlined by middleweights Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. Here’s the updated lineup.
Bout 6: Paulo Costa (13-1) vs. Marvin Vettori (17-4-1) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Jessica-Rose Clark (10-6) vs. Joselyne Edwards (10-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Jeff Molina (9-2) vs. Daniel Lacerda (11-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 3: Mason Jones (10-1) vs. Alan Patrick (15-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 2: Alex Caceres (18-12) vs. Choi Seung-woo (10-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Aaron Phillips (12-4) vs. Jonathan Martinez (13-4) (Bantamweight)
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