Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The upcoming
Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card has undergone
a sudden change on a preliminary match. On Thursday, Ludovit
Klein (16-2) announced on his Instagram page that
he will be making his promotional debut at UFC
253 on Sept. 26. MMA
Junkie then reported that Klein will be stepping in for
Nate
Landwehr after Landwehr tested positive for COVID-19. Klein
will be facing Shane Young
(13-4) at featherweight on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates.
According to Klein, he would be the first fighter from Slovakia to
ever compete inside the Octagon. Since a 2017 loss in
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, Klein has rattled off
seven victories including six finishes. His last win came against
former UFC vet Lukasz
Sajewski, where Klein smashed Sajewski in under four minutes at
an Oktagon MMA event in February.
New Zealand’s Young will be looking to advance his UFC win streak
to three against the short-notice newcomer. Since dropping his
debut to current champ Alexander
Volkanovski in 2017, Young has only competed once per year. The
Kiwi rebounded from that setback with a pair of wins over Rolando Dy
and Austin
Arnett. This will be Young’s first fight in over 20 months.
UFC 253 brings the promotion back to “Fight Island” on Sept. 26,
where it will be headlined by a middleweight championship battle
between unbeatens as Israel
Adesanya looks to defend his throne against Paulo
Henrique Costa. The co-main event draws another title fight as
Dominick
Reyes and Jan
Blachowicz scrap for the vacant light heavyweight throne.
