It didn’t take long for Jeremiah Wells to find himself a new fight after his initial one got canceled.
Originally scheduled to face Tim Means at UFC Fight Night 200 on Feb. 5, Wells (9-2-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will now be replacing Orion Cosce to face Mike Mathetha (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), better known as “Blood Diamond,” at UFC 271 just a week later. A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial report by Eurosport NL but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make a formal announcement.
Means (32-12-1 MMA, 14-9 UFC) revealed that a positive COVID-19 test forced him about of his bout.
“I will not be fighting Feb 5th due to Covid. Cutting weight and recovering I didn’t have enough time. I will be working for a return in April.
Thank you!!!”
Wells impressed in his promotional debut when he took out Warlley Alves in the second round at UFC Fight Night 190 in June, marking his third straight finish.
Two-time King in the Ring kickboxing tournament winner Mathetha was signed to a four-fight UFC deal in July. The Zimbabwe-born fighter is unbeaten in his MMA career, most recently scoring a unanimous decision win over Dimps Gillies in February 2020.
With the addition, the UFC 271 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker – for middleweight title
- Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Derek Brunson vs. Jared Cannonier
- Kyler Phillips vs. Marcelo Rojo
- Bobby Green vs. Nasrat Haqparast
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Casey O’Neill
- Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
- Maxim Grishin vs. Ed Herman
- Ronnie Lawrence vs. Mana Martinez
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Fabio Cherant vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Alexander Hernandez vs. Renato Moicano
- AJ Dobson vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov
- Mike Mathetha vs. Jeremiah Wells
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Jared Vanderaa
With Orion Cosce out, Jeremiah Wells steps in to face ‘Blood Diamond’ at UFC 271
