Bryce Mitchell forced out of UFC 288 fight against Movsar Evloev, replacement opponent found

UFC 288 has taken a hit as Bryce Mitchell is out of his scheduled fight.

According to Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes, Mitchell has suffered an undisclosed injury and was forced to pull out of his slated main card contest against Movsar Evloev.

Bryce Mitchell (15-1) is coming off a second-round submission loss to Ilia Toupria back at UFC 282 in December. He’s currently ranked 11th at featherweight and is 6-1 inside the Octagon. In the UFC, he holds notable wins over Edson Barboza, Andre Fili, and Charles Rosa among others.

Although UFC 288 goes down on Saturday, an opponent has been found as Diego Lopes has agreed to step up on short notice to face Evloev on Saturday night after Bryce Mitchell withdrew. UFC 288 is set to take place in Newark, New Jersey, and is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo.

Movsar Evloev (16-0) is a perfect 6-0 in the UFC and coming off a decision win over Dan Ige. Evloev only took this fight on about a month’s notice after Jonathan Pearce was forced out the fight against Mitchell but will now face a newcomer. In the UFC, Evloev holds notable wins over Hakeem Dawodu, Nik Lentz, and Enrique Barzola among others. He is also ranked 10th at featherweight.

Diego Lopes (21-5) is riding a two-fight win streak and is a training partner of Alexa Grasso while he fought on the Contender Series in 2021 losing a decision to Joanderson Brito. The Brazilian last fought back in November and picked up a second-round knockout win over Angel Rodriguez.

With Mitchell out and Evloev facing Lopes, UFC 288 is as follows:

• Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo
• Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
• Jessica Andrade vs. Xiaonan Yan
• Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
• Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
• Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
• Devin Clark vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
• Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
• Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Parker Porter vs. Braxton Smith
• Ikram Aliskerov vs. Phil Hawes
• Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Rafael Estevam
• Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
• Daniel Santos vs. Jonny Munoz Jr.

Will you be watching UFC 288 on Saturday?