Written by UFC 309 fight week is upon us and while most of the attention has been on the fights atop the bill, circumstances have required the promotion to tinker with the undercard.
Thursday, the promotion made two changes to Saturday’s card at Madison Square Garden in New York official. With Lucas Almeida out of his preliminary card bout vs. David Onama, in steps promotional newcomer Roberto Romero.
Romero (8-3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) went 6-1-1 in Combate Global in the eight fights prior to his UFC signing. He most recently competed in July and won by first-round rear-naked choke. The win bounced him back from a loss in December.
Onama (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has proven himself a must-watch fighter over the span of his six-fight UFC tenure to date. Whether it’s his brutal knockout of Gabriel Santos or his back-and-forth wars against Nate Landwehr and Mason Jones, Onama has proven himself a tough test for all opposition.
Additionally, the main card opener between Mauricio Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and James Llontop (14-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has been changed from lightweight (155 pounds) to super lightweight (165 pounds). No reason was given for this change.
With the changes, the UFC 309 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira
Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
James Llontop vs. Mauricio Ruffy
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/FX/Hulu, 8 p.m. ET)
Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman
Damon Jackson vs. Jim Miller
David Onama vs. Roberto Romero
PRELIMINARY CARD (Hulu/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Jhonata Diniz vs. Marcin Tybura
Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott
Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.