The UFC debut of bantamweight Jay Perrin has been added to this weekend’s “Fight Night” event. Perrin has reportedly stepped in to replace Khalid Taha in a bout against Mario Bautista, per Mike Heck of MMA Fighting.
The new matchup is expected to take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on February 19th
Perrin is joining the UFC roster shortly after becoming a champion on the regional scene. He most recently secured a submission win against Josh Smith in September 2021 to become the latest CES Bantamweight Champion.
Perrin was scheduled to defend his belt for the first time next month against Ashiek Ajim. Due to his signing with the UFC, that matchup has been scrapped.
Bautista will be making his first appearance since suffering a stoppage loss against Trevin Jones last year. He currently holds an even UFC record of two wins and two losses.
It is not known at the moment why Taha withdrew from his fight against Bautista. The bout was scheduled to be his sixth appearance since joining the UFC in 2018.
UFC’s February 19th card is currently set to be headlined by Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill. Here’s the lineup:
Bout 11: Johnny Walker (18-6) vs. Jamahal Hill (9-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 10: Kyle Daukaus (10-2) vs. Jamie Pickett (13-6) (Middleweight)
Bout 9: Parker Porter (12-6) vs. Alan Baudot (8-2) (Heavyweight)
Bout 8: Jim Miller (33-16) vs. Nikolas Motta (12-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Joaquin Buckley (13-4) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (11-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 6: Gabriel Benitez (22-9) vs. David Onama (8-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 5: Jessica-Rose Clark (11-6) vs. Stephanie Egger (6-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Chas Skelly (18-3) vs. Mark Striegl (18-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Diana Belbita (14-6) vs. Gloria de Paula (5-4) (Strawweight)
Bout 2: Jesse Strader (5-2) vs. Chad Anheliger (11-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Mario Bautista (8-2) vs. Jay Perrin (10-4) (Bantamweight)
Knockdown News 