Octagon newcomer Darian
Weeks will make his promotional debut on less than a week’s
notice against Bryan
Barberena at UFC
on ESPN 31.
Promotion officials announced the new welterweight bout Tuesday.
Weeks is a replacement for Matt Brown,
who tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from
the event. UFC on ESPN 31 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas
on Saturday and is headlined by a bantamweight tilt between
Jose
Aldo and Rob Font.
Weeks was supposed to face Josh
Quinlan on Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 7 but was
forced to pull out of the fight due to COVID-19 protocols. The
28-year-old Missouri native is 5-0 as a professional, including a
second-round TKO of Craig
Fairley at LFA 99 on Feb. 12. Weeks also owns a 1-1 mark as a
professional boxer.
Barberena, meanwhile, has lost three of his last four Octagon
appearances. Most recently, the MMA Lab product dropped a majority
decision to Jason Witt
at UFC on ESPN 28 on July 31.