Another slight change has been made to UFC’s February 19th “Fight Night” event. Austin Lingo has reportedly been pulled from his featherweight fight against Jonathan Pearce and is being replaced by UFC newcomer Christian Rodriguez.
News of this change was confirmed by Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting on Tuesday. The new matchup is joining a card that is set to happen at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
It was reported last week that Lingo had to withdraw from his fight against Pearce due to an injury. The booking was set to give him the chance to build off a successful 2021 that saw him earn two wins.
He is now being replaced by Rodriguez, who is joining the UFC with an undefeated record of seven wins. He has quickly attained this record since debuting in 2019, fighting in notable promotions like LFA, CFFC and Bellator.
Rodriguez also appeared on the most recent season of “Dana White’s Contender Series.” While he defeated Junior Cortez on the show, he was not offered a UFC contract in the end.
Now with a new opponent, Pearce will be looking for his third UFC win. He has stopped his past two opponents, defeating Kai Kamaka III in late 2020 and submitting Omar Morales in September 2021.
Here’s an updated look at this weekend’s UFC “Fight Night” card. The current main event is set to see light heavyweights Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill face off:
Bout 12: Johnny Walker (18-6) vs. Jamahal Hill (9-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 11: Kyle Daukaus (10-2) vs. Jamie Pickett (13-6) (Middleweight)
Bout 10: Parker Porter (12-6) vs. Alan Baudot (8-2) (Heavyweight)
Bout 9: Jim Miller (33-16) vs. Nikolas Motta (12-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Joaquin Buckley (13-4) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (11-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 7: Gabriel Benitez (22-9) vs. David Onama (8-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 6: Jessica-Rose Clark (11-6) vs. Stephanie Egger (6-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Chas Skelly (18-3) vs. Mark Striegl (18-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Diana Belbita (14-6) vs. Gloria de Paula (5-4) (Strawweight)
Bout 3: Jesse Strader (5-2) vs. Chad Anheliger (11-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Mario Bautista (8-2) vs. Jay Perrin (10-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Jonathan Pearce (11-4) vs. Christian Rodriguez (7-0) (Featherweight)
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