UFC Vegas 33 is back to 13 bouts after visa troubles scratched Mounir Lazzez from Saturday’s event in Las Vegas.
Jared Gooden will step in on short notice to take on Niklas Stolze at UFC APEX, multiple people told MMA Fighting after an initial report from MMA Junkie. Stolze announced Lazzez’s withdrawal on his Instagram page earlier today.
UFC Vegas 33 suffered several setbacks on fight week with two bouts scuttled on Monday, trimming the card to 13 bouts. Heavyweights Shamil Abdurakhimov and Chris Daukaus were ruled out as co-main event when Abdurakhimov withdrew, and a middleweight fight between Sam Alvey and Roman Kopylov was cancelled due to visa issues with Kopylov.
Gooden takes the short-notice opportunity with high stakes after losing his first two fights; the Titan FC vet has fallen short on points in bouts against Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Alan Jouban.
UFC Vegas 33 is headlined by a middleweight fight between Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland.