Steven Ray has pulled out of his lightweight bout against Jake Matthews at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale next month and stepping up to replace Ray in the bout will be Kevin Lee.
The fight change was announced by the UFC on late Thursday evening.
The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale will take place on July 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a title fight as Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends the women’s strawweight title against Claudia Gadelha.
Lee (12-2) is coming off a decision win at UFC 197 against Efrain Escudero and he has won five of his seven fights in the UFC. Four of his five wins in the UFC have come by decision and his only stoppage win in the UFC came last year against James Moontasri by submission. Matthews (10-1) has won three of his four fights in the UFC and is coming off a submission win against Johnny Case at UFC Fight Night 85. All of his victories in the UFC have come by stoppage and two of the victories have come by submission.
The current fight card for The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale is below.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0) vs. Claudia Gadelha (13-1)
TBA vs. TBA – TUF 23 light heavyweight tournament final
TBA vs. TBA – TUF 23 women’s strawweight tournament final
James Krause (23-7) vs. Ross Pearson (19-10, 1NC)
Doo Ho Choi (13-1) vs. Thiago Tavares (20-6-1)
Joaquim Silva (8-0) vs. Andrew Holbrook (11-0)
Gray Maynard (11-5-1, 1NC) vs. Fernando Bruno (15-3)
Cezar Ferreira (9-5) vs. Anthony Smith (25-11)
Jake Matthews (10-1) vs. Kevin Lee (12-2)
Li Jingliang (10-4) vs. Anton Zafir (7-2)
John Moraga (16-4) vs. Matheus Nicolau (11-1-1)