UFC 296 is complete once again after losing out on a planned encounter.
Bryce Mitchell has agreed to replace Giga Chikadze and face Josh Emmett on Saturday, December 16. The event takes place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with prelims airing live on ESPN2 and the main card on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
A 29-year-old, Mitchell has won seven of his eight UFC appearances including wins over Edson Barboza, Andre Fili and Charles Rosa. Most recently, the Arkansas native downed Dan Ige to improve to 16-1 in his career.
Emmett, who faced Yair Rodriguez for the interim UFC featherweight title, is looking to snap the first losing streak of his career. Along with falling to Rodriguez, he was also bested by Ilia Topuria.
Overall, Emmett enters the fight 18-5 including victories over Calvin Kattar, Shane Burgos and Michael Johnson.
Chikadze was forced out of the planned fight after tearing his groin in training.
UFC 296 Fight Card
The event features a welterweight championship match between rivals Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. Also, Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight belt vs. top contender Brandon Royval.
Shavkat Rakhmonov and Stephen Thompson are signed for a welterweight scrap with Tony Ferguson meeting Paddy Pimblett at lightweight. The main card kicks off with welterweights Vicente Luque and Ian Machado Garry.
Emmett vs. Mitchell is set to headline the prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+ alongside Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa, Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher and Casey O’Neill vs. Ariane Lipski.
