Julian Marquez will still fight June 18 but against a different Brazilian middleweight than originally expected.
At the UFC Fight Night event, Marquez (9-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will meet Gregory Rodrigues (11-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) rather than original opponent Wellington Turman, who has withdrawn for undisclosed reasons.
Two people with knowledge of the change informed MMA Junkie on Friday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an announcement. The event does not have an official location, though MMA Junkie has learned the frontrunner is Austin, Texas.
Marquez, 31, enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak that includes bonus-earning victories over Sam Alvey and Maki Pitolo. Since the latter win, Marquez has not competed. Scheduled twice, he’s withdrawn both times due to injury.
Rodrigues, 30, is a former LFA champion and will look to bounce back from his first promotional loss, which he suffered to Armen Petrosyan in February. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak, which included two UFC victories over Dusko Todorovic and Jun Yong Park.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night event for June 18 includes:
- Julian Marquez vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Roman Dolidze
- Gloria de Paula vs. Maria Oliveira
- JP Buys vs. Cody Durden
- Jamsine Jasudavicius vs. Natalia Silva
- Damir Ismagulov vs. Guram Kutateladze
- Cody Stamann vs. Eddie Wineland
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