With over two months to prepare, the replacement is not taking this
matchup on short notice.
Undefeated Road to UFC season 2 flyweight tournament winner
Rei
Tsuruya (9-0) will step in for Cody Durden
to take on Carlos
Hernandez (9-3) in a 125-pound clash at UFC
303. This pay-per-view card will go down at the T-Mobile Arena
in Las Vegas on June 29. The news was first reported by ESPN
Deportes on
X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday.
Former Pancrase
competitor Tsuruya strung together three solid performances on the
Road to UFC season 2 tournament to walk away as the winner in the
flyweight bracket. The 21-year-old most recently finished Niushiyue
Ji in the first frame of February’s tournament finals, and he
currently sports a stellar stoppage rate of 89% as a pro.
Dana White’s Contender Series alum Hernandez will return to the
Octagon following a second-round knockout loss at the hands of
Tsuruya’s compatriot, Tatsuro
Taira, in December. The Illinois native currently sports a 2-2
record in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, with wins over Victor
Altamirano and Denys
Bondar.
Other announced matchups for the event include a featherweight
meeting between Cub Swanson
and Andre
Fili, and a strawweight clash pitting Michelle
Waterson-Gomez against Gillian
Robertson.