Kalinn Williams steps in for Dhiego Lima, meets Alex Morono at UFC 247

Less than two weeks away from UFC 247, Alex Morono has a replacement opponent.

Morono (17-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was set to meet Dhiego Lima (15-7 MMA, 4-5 UFC) at the event until an injury forced Lima out. Now promotional newcomer Kalinn Williams (9-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step in for the welterweight fight.

UFC 247 takes place Feb. 8 at Toyota Center in Houston. With two title fights atop the bill, the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Williams, from Michigan, comes to the UFC on the strength of a six-fight winning streak. This past November, he picked up arguably the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision over three-time Bellator fighter Jeremie Holloway. Five of his nine career wins have been by stoppage.

Morono has won three straight and four of his past five fights. After a decision loss to Jordan Mein in July 2018, Morono rebounded with a decision win over Kenan Song, then finished Zak Ottow with a TKO and outworked Max Griffin to go 2-0 in 2019.

Lima was set to go after his fourth straight win. In 2019, he had split decision victories over Court McGee and Luke Jumeau to run his streak to three straight after back-to-back losses to Jesse Taylor in the “TUF 25” final and Yushin Okami. His momentum now is on hold.

With the change, the UFC 247 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

Champ Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes – for light heavyweight title
Champ Valentina Shevchenko vs. Katlyn Chookagian – for women’s flyweight title
Juan Adams vs. Justin Tafa
Mirsad Bektic vs. Dan Ige
Ilir Latifi vs. Derrick Lewis

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)

Marlon Vera vs. TBA
Antonio Arroyo vs. Trevin Giles
Alex Morono vs. Kalinn Williams
Andrea Lee vs. Lauren Murphy

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)

Mario Bautista vs. Miles Johns
Journey Newson vs. Domingo Pilarte
Andre Ewell vs. Jonathan Martinez