The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has found a
replacement for its lost co-headliner on Feb. 10.
MMA Junkie first broke the news on Friday that
Andre Fili
(23-10, 1 NC) would be stepping in for
Lerone
Murphy at
UFC Fight Night 236 on Feb. 10. The veteran featherweight will
be facing
Dan Ige (17-7)
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on that date, likely still in the
co-main event slot. This pairing has since been confirmed by
other outlets.
“Touchy” Fili returned to the win column in December by knocking
out
Lucas
Almeida in the first round at UFC 296. The Team Alpha Male
product has not put a win or losing streak together since 2019 when
he won two straight against
Myles Jury
and
Sheymon
Moraes. As he has pinballed around the featherweight ladder,
Fili has beaten the likes of
Bill Algeo
and
Charles
Jourdain but come up short against names like
Nathaniel
Wood and
Bryce
Mitchell.
Hawaii’s Ige saw his own win streak come to a close in September
2023 when Mitchell picked up a decision over him. Ige had gained
some momentum and a number next to his name by sparking
Damon
Jackson and then outworking
Nate
Landwehr in 2023. Before the win over Jackson, Ige dropped
three straight, suffering decision losses to
Chan Sung
Jung,
Josh Emmett
and
Movsar
Evloev. Despite the setbacks, “50K” has still never been
finished as a pro.
UFC Fight Night 236 goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb.
10, with the main attraction seeing
Jack
Hermansson throw down against
Joseph
Pyfer at middleweight. Other matchups on the billing include a
pair of 185-pound tilts as
Robert
Bryczek takes on
Albert
Duraev, while
Brad
Tavares and
Gregory
Rodrigues test one another’s chins. Additionally,
Rodolfo
Vieira and
Armen
Petrosyan will try to handle their business, with the match
also taking place at middleweight.