UFC Fight Night 232 has encountered two fight week changes thus far, and it’s only Tuesday.
With Cesar Almeida and Jonny Parsons out of Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Christian Leroy Duncan and Uros Medic have new opponents.
Three people with knowledge of the changes recently informed MMA Junkie of them but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Almeida (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who withdrew due to an infection, has been replaced by Denis Tiuliulin (11-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC) and will fight Duncan (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the preliminary card. The pairing was first reported by Vestnik MMA.
Tiuliulin looks to snap a two-fight skid. He most recently competed in August when he was quickly finished with strikes by Gregory Rodrigues. Duncan is a former Cage Warriors middleweight champion who will look to bounce back from his first career loss, a unanimous decision dropped vs. Armen Petrosyan in June.
Parsons is out for an undisclosed reason. He’s been replaced by promotional newcomer Myktybek Orolbai Uulu (11-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will fight Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout on the main card. The matchup was first reported by MMA Orbit.
Uulu is an LFA standout with 10 finishes (six knockouts and four submissions) in 11 victories. Medic rides a two-fight winning streak into the matchup with TKO finishes of Omar Morales and Matthew Semelsberger.
With the changes, the UFC Fight Night 232 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
- Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig
- Jake Matthews vs. Michael Morales
- Chase Hooper vs. Jordan Leavitt
- Nick Aguirre vs. Payton Talbott
- Luana Pinheiro vs. Amanda Ribas
- Uros Medic vs. Myktybek Orolbai Uulu
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET)
- Joanderson Brito vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Chad Anheliger vs. Jose Johnson
- Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Denis Tiuliulin
- Caio Machado vs. Mick Parkin
- Lucas Alexander vs. Jeka Saragih
- Ailin Perez vs. Lucie Pudilova
- Nikolas Motta vs. Trey Ogden
- Rafael Estevam vs. Charles Johnson
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.
