With a week until the event, Nik Lentz is going to have to prepare for a brand new opponent at UFC 203.
As reported by MMA Fighting, Mairbek Taisumov is out of the fight against Lentz next weekend for reasons unknown as of posting. Because of the drop, Lentz will be fighting Michael McBride on short notice in Cleveland.
The fight will be the first in the UFC for McBride. That being said, he is looking for his fifth-straight victory inside the octagon. McBride is 8-1 with all eight wins coming via submission. On the other side of things, Lentz is 5-2 in his last seven fights having last fought at UFC on Fox 17 where he beat Danny Castillo in a split decision.
McBride comes into the fight with nothing to lose by fighting on short notice. Lentz, on the other hand, could find himself down the featherweight rankings should he lose to a man coming in on just a week's notice. It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens when the two step inside the cage during the UFC 203 prelims on Fox Sports 1.
UFC 203 comes to you live from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on September 10. In addition to Lentz' bout, the main event features Stipe Miocic defending his heavyweight championship in his hometown against Alistair Overeem. The card also features the highly anticipated debut of former WWE superstar Phil "CM Punk" Brooks.
Fightful will have full coverage of UFC 203 throughout the week as well as during the even itself.
