Anthony Hernandez out of UFC Noche, Josh Fremd steps in to fight Roman Kopylov
Josh Fremd is in to save a UFC Noche booking in turmoil.
MMA Fighting has confirmed with sources with knowledge of the change that Fremd (11-4) has been added to the Sept. 16 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he replaces Anthony Hernandez to fight Roman Kopylov (11-2) in a middleweight bout. Fremd’s involvement was first reported by MMA Junkie.
This is the second time that this bout has had to be salvaged as Hernandez was originally supposed to fight Chris Curtis before a rib injury to Curtis forced Kopylov to step in for him. Hernandez subsequently announced via Instagram that he is withdrawing from UFC Noche due to a torn ligament.
Fremd is coming off of a decision win over Jamie Pickett on Aug. 12 that was marred by Fremd missing weight by three pounds for the contest. He has rebounded from an 0-2 UFC start with back-to-back wins against Pickett and Sedriques Dumas.
Like Fremd, Kopylov also lost his first two UFC fights, but he has bounced back with three straight knockout wins over Claudio Ribeiro, Punahele Soriano, and Alessio Di Chirico.
UFC Noche is headlined by a championship rematch as Alexa Grasso defends the flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko.
Mike Heck and Damon Martin contributed to this report.