A pair of upcoming UFC cards have received minor shakeups after two withdrawals resulted in a new fight booking.
With Nate Maness out of UFC 288 because of injury, that opened up a spot opposite Zhalgas Zhumagulov. And with Carlos Candelario injured ahead of his UFC Fight Night 222 bout vs. Rafael Estevam on April 22, Estevam now will step in two weeks later to meet Zhumagulov on May 6 at UFC 288 in Newark, N.J.
Multiple people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the shakeup. They asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make any announcements.
Estevam (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), an undefeated Brazilian, will make his UFC debut after earning his opportunity last September with a second-round TKO victory on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Zhumagulov (14-8 MMA, 1-5 UFC), who fights out of Kazakhstan, is looking to snap a three-fight skid, which includes split decisions to Jeff Molina and Charles Johnson in his two most recent appearances.
With the addition, here is the updated UFC 288 lineup:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Jessica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Rolando Bedoya vs. Khaos Williams
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Johnny Munoz vs. Daniel Santos
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Andre Petroski vs. Armen Petrosyan
- Devin Clark vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
- Rafael Estevam vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
- Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
