Popular featherweight Bryce Mitchell has an undisclosed injury and is out of his scheduled UFC 288 fight Saturday against the undefeated Movsar Evloev, sources confirmed to ESPN. Evloev will now fight Diego Lopes, who has been newly signed by the UFC.
Evloev vs. Mitchell would have been a big fight in the UFC featherweight division. Both are up-and-coming talents and look like future contenders at 145 pounds. Mitchell is hoping to be rebooked this summer, per sources.
Evloev (16-0) is 6-0 in the UFC and coming off a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige in June 2022. The 29-year-old Russia native is a dominant wrestler and the former M-1 Global bantamweight champion.
Lopes (21-5), a 28-year-old Brazilian, is a longtime training partner of UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso in Guadalajara, Mexico. He is the former Lux Fight League featherweight champion.
ESPN Deportes writer Carlos Contreras Legaspi contributed to this report.