Another change has been made to UFC’s April 9th pay-per-view card.
Veteran Aleksei Oleinik is now expected to face Jared Vanderaa at UFC 273, per an update provided by the promotion earlier this week. Vanderaa is replacing Ilir Latifi, who withdrew from the fight due to undisclosed reasons.
The new heavyweight bout is expected to take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
The fight keeps Oleinik in the lineup as he attempts to earn his milestone 60th pro victory. The veteran fighter has been unsuccessful in his last three fights in the UFC cage.
Vanderaa will also be fighting to break a losing streak in this short-notice assignment. His last fight came in February when Andrei Arlovski scored a split decision win over him.
Oleinik and Latifi were first scheduled to meet on a UFC card in late March. However, after Latifi suffered an illness, the fight was moved to UFC 273. It is not known when Latifi will return to the UFC cage.
UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is currently set to face The Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC 273. Here’s how the card looks now:
Bout 14: Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) vs. The Korean Zombie (17-6) (UFC Featherweight Championship)
Bout 13: Aljamain Sterling (20-3) vs. Petr Yan (16-2) (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 12: Pat Sabatini (16-3) vs. Gavin Tucker (13-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 11: Mickey Gall (7-4) vs. Mike Malott (7-1-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Jairzinho Rozenstruick (12-3) vs. Marcin Tybura (22-7) (Heavyweight)
Bout 9: Mackenzie Dern (11-2) vs. Tecia Torres (13-5) (Strawweight)
Bout 8: Vinc Pichel (14-2) vs. Mark O. Madsen (11-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Piera Rodriguez (7-0) vs. Kay Hansen (7-5) (Strawweight)
Bout 6: Ian Garry (8-0) vs. Darian Weeks (5-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 5: Gilbert Burns (20-4) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (10-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Aspen Ladd (9-2) vs. Raquel Pennington (13-8) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Kelvin Gastelum (17-8) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (16-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 2: Anthony Hernandez (8-2) vs. Josh Fremd (9-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 1: Aleksei Oleinik (59-16-1) vs. Jared Vanderaa (12-7) (Heavyweight)
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