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.