Ilia Topuria to remain on UFC 270, now faces late replacement Charles Jourdain

Ilia Topuria’s date for his return remains, but with a new face.

The rising UFC featherweight contender is set to take on late replacement Charles Jourdain at UFC 270 on Jan. 22. Topuria was originally scheduled to take on Movsar Evloev but he was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19.

MMA Junkie confirmed the news on the new matchup following an initial report from Alvaro Colmenero on Thursday.

Topuria is coming off a highlight, knockout of standout grappler Ryan Hall back in July at UFC 264. The 24-year-old is undefeated in his MMA career and is seen by many as one of the top prospects at 145 pounds.

Meanwhile, Jourdain last fought in December where he picked up a unanimous decision win over Andre Ewell back in December. The 26-year-old is 2-1 in his past three trips to the octagon.

Below is the updated lineup for UFC 270:

Main Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET

• Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane
• Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
• Charles Jourdain vs. Ilia Topuria
• Greg Hardy vs. Serghei Spivac
• Said Nurmagomedov vs. Cody Stamann

Preliminary ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET

• Wellington Turman vs. Rodolfo Vieira
• Tony Gravely vs. Saimon Oliveira
• Jack Della Maddalena vs. opponent TBA
• Andre Fialho vs. Michel Pereira

Preliminary ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET

• Raoni Barcelos vs. Victor Henry
• Trevin Giles vs. Michael Morales
• Matt Frevola vs. Genaro Valdez
• Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez