Renato
Carneiro has agreed to step in and fight Rafael dos
Anjos on four days’ notice at
UFC 272.
MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing. The bout is
expected to be contested at a 160-pound catchweight and will serve
as a five-round, co-main event on Saturday’s card.
Carneiro is a replacement for Rafael
Fiziev, who
withdrew from the bout after testing positive for COVID-19. A
number of fighters volunteered to face dos Anjos, most noticeably
Islam
Makhachev, who just earned a first-round TKO of Bobby Green
at UFC Fight Night 202 this past Saturday. However, that matchup
did not come to fruition.
“Moicano” is coming off a victory at UFC 271 on Feb. 12, when he
submitted Alexander
Hernandez with a rear-naked choke 1:33 into Round 2 of their
clash at the Toyota Center in Houston. The 32-year-old Brazilian is
3-1 since moving from lightweight to 145 pounds, with his only
setback coming against Fiziev at UFC 256.
A former light heavyweight champion, dos Anjos returned to the
division following a 4-4 stint at 170 pounds. In his last
appearance, the Nova Uniao product took a split-decision triumph
over Paul Felder
at UFC Fight Night 182 in November 2020. Dos Anjos was supposed to
face Makhachev on three different occasions in recent months, but
the bout fell through each time for various reasons.
UFC 272 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday
and is headlined by a welterweight duel between Colby Covington and
Jorge Masvidal. The evening’s main card airs on pay-per-view via
ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.