LFA Featherweight Champion Bruno Souza will get his first spot on a UFC card this weekend, stepping in on short notice to face Melsik Baghdasaryan at the promotion’s November 6th pay-per-view event.
News of the change was first reported by Marcel Dorff of MMA DNA. The bout joins UFC 268, which is set to happen at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
Souza will be replacing TJ Laramie, who announced his departure from the card last week.
Souza has received the UFC call-up after a strong run in notable promotion LFA. He picked up five wins since joining the promotion in 2019.
Souza claimed the LFA Featherweight Championship in August, going five rounds against Javier Garcia to pick up a unanimous decision win.
Baghdasaryan is coming off his first UFC win, which was a stoppage victory over Collin Anglin in late July. He was given a UFC contract last year after scoring a win on TV show “Dana White’s Contender Series.”
UFC 268 is currently scheduled to have two title fight rematches at the top of the card. In the main event, UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman will fight Colby Covington.
Here’s the updated lineup:
Main Card (10:00PM EDT) (PPV)
Bout 14: Kamaru Usman (19-1) vs. Colby Covington (16-2) (UFC Welterweight Championship)
Bout 13: Rose Namajunas (10-4) vs. Zhang Weili (21-2) (UFC Strawweight Championship)
Bout 12: Justin Gaethje (22-3) vs. Michael Chandler (22-6) (Lightweight)
Bout 11: Frankie Edgar (24-9-1) vs. Marlon Vera (19-7-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 10: Shane Burgos (13-3) vs. Billy Qurantillo (16-3) (Featherweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT) (ESPNews / TSN 5)
Bout 9: Andreas Michailidis (13-4) vs. Alex Pereira (3-1) (Middleweight)
Bout 8: Al Iaquinta (14-6-1) vs. Bobby Green (27-12-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Phil Hawes (11-2) vs. Chris Curtis (26-8) (Middleweight)
Bout 6: Edmen Shahbazyan (11-2) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (10-3) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Jordan Williams (9-5) vs. Ian Garry (7-0) (Welterweight)
Early Prelims (6:00PM EDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 4: Gian Villante (17-13) vs. Chris Barnett (21-7) (Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Aleksa Camur (6-2) vs. John Allan (13-6) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Melsik Baghdasaryan (6-1) vs. Bruno Souza (10-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: CJ Vergara (9-2-1) vs. Ode Osbourne (9-4) (Flyweight)
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