Jalin Turner will get an even higher-ranked opponent after losing out on his initial fight at UFC 285.
Dan Hooker has been forced out of the March 4 event due to a broken hand, and Mateusz Gamrot (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will step in to face Turner (13-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Kanal Sportowy was first to report the news.
Gamrot was off to a hot start in his UFC tenure where he won four of five fights – including a win over Arman Tsarukyan. However, in his past outing, the former two-division KSW champion saw his four-fight winning streak snap at Beneil Dariush’s hands at UFC 280.
Turner, 27, has finished his past five fights in a row, most recently a TKO over Jamie Mullarkey, followed by a 45-second Performance of the Night submission of Brad Riddell at UFC 276 in July.
With the change, the UFC 285 lineup includes:
- Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane – for vacant heavyweight title
- Champ Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso – for women’s flyweight title
- Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas
- Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
- Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Derek Brunson vs. Dricus Du Plessis
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jalin Turner
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Julian Marquez
- Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
- Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
- Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
