Anthony Hernandez has a new opponent for UFC 298.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Hernandez will now face Roman Kopylov at the UFC’s next pay-per-view event, which takes place Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Kopylov steps in for Ikram Aliskerov in the middleweight bout following an announcement of Aliskerov’s departure from the scheduled booking during Saturday’s UFC 297 broadcast.
Hernandez and Kopylov were scheduled to compete at Noche UFC in September before the former was forced to withdraw due to injury. “Fluffy” enters the bout on an impressive four-fight win streak, which includes stoppage wins over Edmen Shahbazyan, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Rodolfo Vieira.
Kopylov has been on a tear in his own right, finishing his past four opponents, including Hernandez’s replacement for the Noche UFC card in Josh Fremd.
UFC 298 will be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.
