When Saturday’s UFC event needed another welterweight, one of the promotion’s most exciting stepped up and stepped in.
Niko Price is in dire need of a win, but that didn’t stop him from stepping into the UFC Fight Night 266 lineup at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. With Jose Henrique out, Price (16-9 MMA, 8-9 UFC) will now step in vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (13-7 MMA, 1-3 UFC), a fighter who also stepped in on short notice. The promotion announced the bout Monday.
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A fighter who always brings it win or lose, Price (16-9 MMA, 8-9 UFC) has lost four of his most recent five outings dating back to December 2022. He’s dropped back-to-back fights to Themba Gorimbo and Jacobe Smith.
Veretennikov (13-7 MMA, 1-3 UFC) also might need a win if he wants to stick in the UFC. He started off his promotional tenure with back-to-back losses before a win over Francisco Prado. He most recently competed in October when he lost a unanimous decision to Puna Soriano.
The updated UFC Fight Night 266 lineup includes:
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Mario Bautista vs. Vinicius Oliveira
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Amir Albazi vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
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Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev
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Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
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Farid Basharat vs. Jean Matsumoto
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Dustin Jacoby vs. Julius Walker
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Daniil Donchenko vs. Alex Morono
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Niko Price vs. Nikolay Veretennikov
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Bruna Brasil vs. Ketlen Souza
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Javid Basharat vs. Said Nurmagomedov
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Eduarda Moura vs. Cong Wang
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Muin Gafurov vs. Jakub Wilacz
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Priscila Cachoeira vs. Klaudia Sygula
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Exciting UFC veteran steps in to save fight on days notice
