When Patrick “Paddy” Holohan was forced to retire this week, it took him out of a fight with Willie Gates at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam in less than two weeks. Gates now has a new opponent, as he’ll take on Yuta “Ulka” Sasaki on the card instead.
The UFC announced the switch on Tuesday.
Gates hopes to bounce back from a TKO loss to Dustin Ortiz in his most recent outing, his second loss in three UFC bouts. Sasaki’s in a similar position, having lost three straight into this short notice bout. He’s also returning after a lengthy layoff, with his last appearance coming in June of 2015.
Due to Sasaki taking the fight on short notice, it’s likely the bout will be at his native bantamweight, rather than having him drop down to Gates’ flyweight field. The full lineup for the May 8 UFC Fight Night 87 event is below:
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Alistair Overeem
- Antonio Silva vs. Stefan Struve
- Gunnar Nelson vs. Albert Tumenov
- Anna Elmose vs. Germaine de Randamie
- Francimar Barroso vs. Nikita Krylov
- Heather Jo Clark vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Rustam Khabilov vs. Chris Wade
- Magnus Cedenblad vs. Garreth McLellan
- Nick Hein vs. Jon Tuck
- Yan Cabral vs. Reza Madadi
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Neil Seery
- Leon Edwards vs. Dominic Waters
- Willie Gates vs. Ulka Sasaki
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