Next week’s UFC 203 preliminary card has seen a change as Mairbek Taisumov is out of his fight against Nik Lentz due to his visa being denied and Lentz will now face UFC newcomer Michael McBride.
Taisumov announced on Friday that his visa request was denied and the new fight booking has been confirmed by the UFC.
UFC 203 will come from the Quicken Loans Arena and will be headlined by a title fight as heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic makes his first title defense as he is challenged by Alistair Overeem.
McBride (8-1) is currently on a four fight winning streak and all of his professional victories have come by submission. His most recent win came in November as he defeated Derek Loffer at MCC 61. Lentz (26-7-2, 1NC) has gone 2-2 in his last four fights and is coming off a split decision win against Danny Castillo at UFC on FOX 17. Five of his last six fights have gone the distance and his last stoppage victory came in 2012 against Eiji Mitsuoka.
The current UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem fight card is below.
Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Stipe Miocic (15-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (41-14, 1NC)
Fabricio Werdum (20-6-1) vs. Travis Browne (18-4-1)
CM Punk (0-0) vs. Mickey Gall (2-0)
Urijah Faber (33-9) vs. Jimmie Rivera (19-1)
Jessica Andrade (14-5) vs. Joanne Calderwood (11-1)
Preliminary Card: (FS1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Jessica Eye (11-5, 1NC) vs. Bethe Correia (9-2)
Nik Lentz (26-7-2, 1NC) vs. Michael McBride (8-1)
Brad Tavares (13-4) vs. Caio Magalhaes (9-2)
Ian McCall (13-5-1) vs. Ray Borg (9-2)
Preliminary Card: (UFC Fight Pass – 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT)
Yancy Medeiros (12-4, 1NC) vs. Sean Spencer (12-5)
C.B. Dolloway (16-9) vs. Francimar Barroso (18-5)
Drew Dober (16-7, 1NC) vs. Jason Gonzalez (10-2)
Damir Hadzovic (10-2) vs. Yusuke Kasuya (9-2-2)