Steve Garcia replaces Alex Munoz, takes on Luis Pena at UFC on ESPN+ 27

Luis Pena won’t be facing Alex Munoz at UFC on ESPN+ 27.

Luckily for “Violent Bob Ross,” a UFC newcomer has stepped up and accepted the lightweight fight in Norfolk, Va. On days’ notice, Steve Garcia has stepped in to take on Pena (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), after Munoz withdrew Friday due to injury.

Two persons with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Monday, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.

On the most recent season of Dana White’s Contender Series, Garcia (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) accepted a bantamweight fight, but missed the mark on the scale. He won the fight by TKO, but was not signed due to his weight cut mishap. Since that time, Garcia moved to featherweight and defeated Jose Mariscal by second-round TKO at LFA 80.

With the change, the current UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
Zarah Fairn vs. Felicia Spencer
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont
Grant Dawson vs. Darrick Minner
Kyler Phillips vs. Gabriel Silva

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

Brendan Allen vs. Tom Breese
Steve Garcia vs. Luis Pena
Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura
TJ Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
Spike Carlyle vs. Aalon Cruz
Sean Brady vs. Ismail Naurdiev