The UFC announced a handful of official changes to the upcoming UFC 310 fight card scheduled to take place next month in Las Vegas.
Themba Gorimbo was confirmed as the replacement for Nick Diaz. Gorimbo will step in to face veteran welterweight competitor Vicente Luque in a 170-pound preliminary bout.
Gorimbo has won four in a row including a decision over Niko Price in October, while Luque is looking to get back in the win column after being stopped by Joaquin Buckley in March.
Luque and Diaz were originally booked to fight in August before the matchup was rescheduled for UFC 310. Diaz, who has fought only once professionally in the past decade, was removed from the upcoming T-Mobile Arena event for undisclosed reasons.
Although Luque and Gorimbo are both 33 years old, their experience at the UFC level differs significantly.
UFC 310 will mark Gorimbo’s 19th pro bout and just his sixth UFC appearance since debuting less than two years ago.
Luque on the other hand is entering his 34th pro bout and 22nd UFC contest. The Brazilian has lost three of his past four outings yet holds notable victories over former UFC champions Rafael dos Anjos, Tyron Woodley and is the only fighter to hold a stoppage win over current welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.
The UFC 310 main card is available for purchase through Sportsnet+ and is set to begin at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Dec. 7 with preliminary card coverage beginning on Sportsnet+ and Sportsnet 360 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
The UFC also announced Tallison Teixeira has been replaced by Kennedy Nzechukwu who will step in to face Lukasz Brzeski on short notice in heavyweight preliminary action.
A heavyweight matchup scheduled between Martin Buday and Rizvan Kuniev was cancelled and removed from the card altogether due to an injury sustained by Buday.
Below is a look at the projected bout order for UFC 310: Pantoja vs. Asakura:
MAIN CARD
-- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura (five rounds for men’s flyweight title)
-- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry (five-round non-title bout)
-- Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
-- Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie
-- Nate Landwehr vs. Choi Doo-ho
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Anthony Smith vs. Dominick Reyes
-- Vicente Luque vs. Themba Gorimbo
-- Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
-- Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
-- Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders
-- Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
-- Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
-- Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
-- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
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