A featherweight fight between Song Yadong and Marlon Vera is on the UFC Jacksonville card. The two will face off at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 16th (local time).
Yesterday Vera took to Twitter to announce that the Chinese bantamweight had pulled out of the fight and demand teammate Urjah Faber step in to replace him. Just a few hours later the full card was released with the matchup on it.
Yadong (15-4-1-1) is undefeated in the octagon. He currently sits at #14 in the bantamweight rankings and is coming off a draw with Cody Stamann at UFC Washington.
Meanwhile Vera (17-5-1) is #13 in the bantamweight rankings and has won his last five fights. It remains unclear why the Ecuadorean thought the fight had fallen through and why both fighters have decided to move up a division.
The event will be headlined by a heavyweight fight pitting K-1 and Pride veteran Alistair Overeem against Walt Harris. It is one of three UFC events booked for the venue this month, all of which will be held with no live audience due to the coronavirus, or Covid-19 situation.
UFC Fight Night 176, Jacksonville, May 16th
Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris (Heavyweight)
Claudia Gadelha vs. Angela Hill (Strawweight)
Edson Barboza vs. Dan Ige (Featherweight)
Eryk Anders vs. Krzysztof Jotko (Middleweight)
Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera (Bantamweight)
Anthony Hernandez vs. Kevin Holland (Middleweight)
Mike Davis vs. Giga Chikadze (Featherweight)
Cortney Casey vs. Mara Romero Borella (Flyweight)
Darren Elkins vs. Nate Landwehr (Featherweight)
Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira vs. Don’Tale Mayes (Heavyweight)
