It's barely spooky season, but one UFC featherweight is already spilling blood.
Gaston Bolanos announced Thursday his withdrawal from UFC Fight Night 292 due to a laceration suffered in training. Now, Francis Marshall faces short-notice replacement Dakota Hope instead Oct. 31 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the new booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Heavy first reported the bout.
Hope (11-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) steps into his second UFC appearance in search of his first promotional win. A member of 4oz Fight Club under coach Daniel Pineda, Hope trains alongside UFC flyweight champion
Joshua Van.
Marshall (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) had some hiccups early on in his UFC career but seems to have found his way in recent outings. After a 1-3 start, Marshall won back-to-back fights against Erik Silva and Lucas Brennan, leading into his Halloween showdown with Hope.
The UFC Vegas 123 card includes:
- Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan
- Luana Santos vs. Yana Santos
- Talita Alencar vs. Piera Rodriguez
- Julian Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong Lee
- Azamat Bekoev vs. Andre Petroski
- Tainara Lisboa vs. Lucia Szabova
- Nick Klein vs. Joe Kropschot
- Farman Hasanov vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani
- Theodor Berggren vs. Rodrigo Sezinando
- Cody Durden vs. Ode Osbourne
- Dakota Hope vs. Francis Marshall
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: New UFC fight booked for Halloween card after grisly cut
