UFC 295 is just days away, but a new bout has been made for the event. Roosevelt Roberts will replace Nurullo Aliev and face Mateusz Rebecki on Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
An injury to Nurullo Aliev has opened the door for Roosevelt Roberts to return to the UFC.
Roberts will face Mateusz Rebecki this Saturday night at UFC 295 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout will be part of the ESPN+ and ESPNews prelim card that airs before the pay-per-view main card.
The 29-year-old Roberts last fought inside the Octagon in 2021, losing to Igancio Bahamondes. He went on to compete for Lights Out Xtreme Fighting later that year, winning the vacant welterweight title with a knockout of Darren Smith Jr.
In 2022, Roberts scored a decision over Alexandre de Almeida at Eagle FC 47.
Overall, he is 12-3 with a no-contest, winning five fights by submission and four by knockout. His UFC career spanned three years following a win on Dana White’s Contender Series and will now see him return at UFC 295 this weekend.
Roberts went 4-3 with a no-contest during that time, defeating Darrell Horcher, Thomas Gifford, Alexander Yakovlev and Brok Weaver.
He lost to Jim Miller in 2020 and was handed his first defeat by Vinc Pichel in 2019.
Rebecki is 18-1 with two wins since joining the UFC off the Contender Series. He topped Loik Radzhabov and Nick Fiore.
Aliev suffered a leg injury, which forced his exit from the planned fight.
UFC 295 Fight Card Updated
The latest fight card for Saturday sees Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira collide for the vacant light heavyweight title. Also, an interim heavyweight champion will be crowned when Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall meet.
Rounding out the main card will be Mackenzie Dern vs. Jessica Andrade, Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint-Denis and Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini.
Other prelim bouts include Steve Erceg vs. Alessandro Costa, Tabatha Ricci vs. Loopy Godinez and Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen.
