Chris Gutierrez has a new opponent for Saturday’s UFC 313.
Days after his UFC Fight Night 253 bout was canceled, John Castaneda (21-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has stepped in on one week’s notice to fight Gutierrez (21-5-2 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the booking recently confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie after an initial report by Eurosport NL but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
When Castaneda steps on the scale Friday, it’ll be the second time in eight days he’ll have partaken in an official UFC weigh-in. He was expected to fight Douglas Silva de Andrade in a 140-pound catchweight this past Friday. However, Silva de Andrade was deemed medically unfit to compete by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) and the fight was canceled.
Castaneda’s loss was Gutierrez’s gain. For weeks, Gutierrez has been opponentless, after the promotion shifted his initially-scheduled opponent Jean Matsumoto to a Feb. 22 bout vs. Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 252 in Seattle.
Gutierrez, 33, enters the fight having won three of his most recent four. Castaneda, 33, has won two of his most recent three, but is coming off a June unanimous decision loss to Daniel Marcos.
With the change, the UFC 313 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev – for light heavyweight title
- Rafael Fiziev vs. Justin Gaethje
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Jalin Turner
- Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
- King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/Disney+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Rei Tsuruya vs. Joshua Van
- Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
- Carlos Leal vs. Alex Morono
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Francis Marshall vs. Mairon Santos
- Ozzy Diaz vs. Djorden Santos
- John Castaneda vs. Chris Gutierrez
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.
