Cage Warriors champ Jai Herbert replaces Stevie Ray, takes on Marc Diakiese at UFC London

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Cage Warriors champ Jai Herbert replaces Stevie Ray, takes on Marc Diakiese at UFC London

Jai Herbert will get a shot at the big leagues.

Herbert (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the Cage Warriors lightweight champion, has stepped in to replace an injured Stevie Ray (23-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC) to take on Marc Diakiese (14-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in a lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN+ 29. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with a person with knowledge of the matchup following an initial reported from Newsome.

UFC on ESPN+ 29 takes place March 21 at The O2 in London. The card streams on ESPN+.

Herbert won the vacant Cage Warriors lightweight belt this past summer when he stopped Jack Grant. Ag Cage Warriors 109 this past October, he defended it with a first-round finish of former UFC and Bellator fighter Cain Carrizosa. The 31-year-old is on a six-fight winning streak.

Diakiese, a former BAMMA lightweight champion, has back-to-back decision wins over Joseph Duffy and Lando Vannata. Prior to that, the 26-year-old was on a three-fight losing skid.

With the change, the UFC on ESPN+ 29 lineup now includes:

  • Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards
  • Paul Craig vs. Ryan Spann
  • Gabriel Benitez vs. Lerone Murphy
  • Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Molly McCann
  • John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic
  • Tom Aspinall vs. Raphael Pessoa
  • Darren Stewart vs. Marvin Vettori
  • Nicolas Dalby vs. Danny Roberts
  • Marc Diakiese vs. Jai Herbert
  • Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy
  • Geraldo de Freitas vs. Jack Shore

Cage Warriors champ Jai Herbert replaces Stevie Ray, takes on Marc Diakiese at UFC London