Bellator vet Christian Edwards will make his UFC debut on
Saturday. | Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan
The
UFC Vegas 117 bill has undergone some more changes ahead of
Saturday’s event.
The promotion announced on Tuesday that Rodolfo
Bellato has been “removed” from a proposed light heavyweight
clash against Modestas
Bukauskas. As a result, Christian
Edwards will step in and face Bukauskas in a 215-pound
catchweight affair.
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Additionally, Nicolas
Dalby has been pulled from a welterweight matchup with Jeremiah
Wells, and that bout has been canceled. Those changes are in
addition to a previously reported change that saw Artur Miniev
replace Thomas
Gantt in a lightweight contest.
UFC Vegas 117 — also known as UFC Fight Night 276 — takes place at
the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight scrap
between Arnold
Allen and Melquizael
Costa. The event airs in its entirety on Paramount+ beginning
at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
Edwards is an eight-time Bellator veteran who has been victorious
in three of his last four outings on the regional scene. Most
recently, he scored a second-round TKO against Glendal
Whitney at Shamrock FC 373 on Feb. 21.
Bukauskas had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last
Octagon appearance, when he suffered a third-round KO defeat to
Nikita
Krylov at UFC 324.