Movsar Evloev Steps In To Face Bryce Mitchell At UFC 288

Good news though fight fans, during this past Saturday’s broadcast of UFC Kansas City, it was announced by the promotion that Movsar Evloev will replace the injured Pearce on three-weeks notice to fight Bryce Mitchell in a featherweight main-card bout on the UFC 288 PPV card in Newark, New Jersey on May 6th.

The bout between Mitchell and Evloev was originally set to main event a UFC Fight Night event in November of last year but Evloev withdrew from the bout due to injury so you can imagine there’s a bit of history here.

Bryce Mitchell

“Thug Nasty” (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) suffered his first official professional loss at UFC 282 in December of last year. Mitchell faced Ilia Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in that bout and lost via. 2nd round submission. Mitchell will look to get back to his winning ways but it won’t be easy as Movsar Evloev is ranked 10th in the featherweight division, one spot higher than Mitchell (#11). Mitchell’s original opponent- Pearce is unranked. 

Movsar Evloev

Evloev is undefeated in his professional career with a record of 16-0 and 6-0 in the UFC. Evloev entered the promotion in April of 2019, four years ago. Evloev was last seen in the octagon against Dan Ige in June of last year. Evloev defeated Ige via. Unanimous Decision.

Final Thoughts and Updated UFC 288 Main Card

This fight honestly interests me more, sure Pearce vs. Mitchell would’ve been fun but this is a higher ranked matchup and has some important implications on the future of the featherweight division. 

Updated UFC 288 Main Card, keep in mind the card order and fights are subject to change at any moment. 

• Bantamweight Title Bout: Aljamain Sterling (C) vs. Henry Cejudo
• Strawweight Bout: #4 Jessica Andrade vs. #6 Yan Xiaonan
• Lightweight Bout: #14 Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
• Featherweight Bout: #10 Movsar Evloev vs. #11 Bryce Mitchell
• Featherweight Bout: Charles Jourdain vs. Kron Gracie

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