Dricus Du Plessis and Anthony Hernandez have been paired up after losing out on their original opponents.
Du Plessis (16-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was scheduled to face Chris Curtis, whereas Hernandez (8-2-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was booked against Albert Duraev. But after both fighters withdrew, Du Plessis will now take on Hernandez at UFC 273 on April 9 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was first to report the booking.
A proven finisher, South Africa’s Du Plessis has kicked off his UFC career with a bang. The former two-division EFC champion and ex-KSW champ took out Markus Perez, and most recently a second-round “Performance of the Night” KO of Trevin Giles at UFC 264 in July.
Hernandez is also riding plenty of momentum. The 28-year-old is coming off a massive upset, a second-round submission of ADCC champion Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 258 last February, which earned him a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
The latest UFC 273 lineup now includes:
- Champ Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung – for featherweight title
- Champ Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
- Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Irene Aldana vs. Aspen Ladd
- Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks
- Dricus Du Plessis vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
- Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
- Pat Sabatini vs. Gavin Tucker
- Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos
- Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
- Kay Hansen vs. Piera Rodriguez
