Steve Garcia will make his Octagon debut on just a few days’ notice.
The Albuquerque, N.M.-based fighter known as “Mean Machine” has agreed to step in for Alex Munoz and face Luis Pena in a lightweight contest at UFC Fight Night 169 on Saturday. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the new matchup.
UFC Fighting Night 169 takes place at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va., and is headlined by a clash between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight championship. The card will stream on ESPN+.
Garcia enters his first promotional foray on a four-bout winning streak. Most recently, the Jackson-Wink MMA product stopped Jose Mariscal via second-round TKO in a featherweight bout at LFA 80. Garcia missed weight for the contest, as he did for a first-round TKO win over Desmond Torres on Dana White’s Contender Series this past summer. Garcia owns an 11-3 career mark that includes a 6-2 stint in Bellator MMA.
Pena had a two-bout winning streak snapped at UFC Fight Night 161, where he dropped a split verdict against Matt Frevola on Oct. 12. “Violent Bob Ross” is 3-2 in the Octagon and 7-2 as a professional overall.