Edson Barboza will remain on the October 10 card, but will not be taking on Jeremy Stephens as reported.
According to Brazilian outlet, Combate, Barboza will now battle Sodiq Yusuff in a very intriguing featherweight bout. The outlet also reports that Stephens decided to delay his return to the Octagon due to the fact he would have a hard time making weight. So, the promotion decided to turn to Yusuff to take on Barboza.
Edson Barboza is coming off a very close split decision loss to Dan Ige back in May. It was his first fight at featherweight and looked good at 145-pounds. Yet, after the fight, he said he wouldn’t cut back down to featherweight unless he got his win bonus.
The Brazilian is currently unranked at featherweight. He’s also on a three-fight losing streak with a controversial decision loss to Paul Felder and a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje. He’s just 1-5 in his last six with his lone win coming over Dan Hooker.
Sodiq Yusuff, meanwhile, is riding a six-fight winning streak and is undefeated in the UFC with a record of 4-0. Last time out, he scored a decision win over Andre Fili at UFC 246 after beating Gabriel Benitez by TKO at UFC 241.
The October 10 card is scheduled to be headlined by a bantamweight bout between Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen.
