With Christian Aguilera out, Warlley Alves vs. Mounir Lazzez targeted for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 20

Mounir Lazzez’s return fight is in the works.

Christian Aguilera has been forced out of his Jan. 16 bout vs. Warlley Alves (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) due to undisclosed reasons. Lazzez (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is now targeted to face Alves, but four days later at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 20 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Two people with knowledge of the targeted booking informed MMA Junkie of the matchup but requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make a formal announcement.

Tunisia-born striker Lazzez picked up a big upset win over Abdul Razak Alhassan in his UFC debut in July. He was scheduled to return vs. David Zawada at UFC on ESPN+ 38, but withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19.

Alves, a winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” has lost two of his past three fights. After knocking out Sergio Moraes at UFC 237, Alves suffered a second-round submission loss to Randy Brown at UFC on ESPN+ 22 last November.

With the change, here’s the updated lineup for UFC Fight Night on Jan. 20:

• Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny
• Viviane Araujo vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Tyson Nam vs. Matt Schnell
• Francisco Figueredo vs. Jerome Rivera
• Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
• Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit
• Zarrukh Adashev vs. Su Mudaerji
• Lerone Murphy vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
• Vinicius Moreira vs. Ike Villanueva
• Manon Fiorot vs. Victoria Leonardo
• Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Markus Perez
• Warlley Alves vs. Mounir Lazzez