Melsik Baghdasaryan has withdrawn from a proposed featherweight clash against Hyder Amil due to injury and will be replaced by Fernie Garcia. Meanwhile, visa issues have removed Albert Duraev from a middleweight showdown against Robert Bryczek. As result, Ihor Potieria will step in on short notice and face Bryczek.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the new matchups on Tuesday. UFC Fight Night 236 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and is headlined by a middleweight duel pitting Jack Hermansson against Joseph Pyfer. The card streams in its entirety on ESPN+ with prelims beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT followed by the main draw at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
Garcia has dropped his first three promotional appearances — all via decision. In his last outing, the Fortis MMA product fell to Rinya Nakamura on the scorecards at UFC Fight Night 225.
Amil is undefeated in eight professional outings and is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Emrah Sonmez on Dana White's Contender Series this past August.
Potieria has lost three of four Octagon appearances since earning a UFC contract on the Contender Series. Most recently, the 27-year-old Ukraine native suffered a second-round TKO loss to Rodolfo Bellato at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2.
Poland’s Bryczek will take a five-bout winning streak into his Octagon debut. The seven-time Oktagon MMA veteran owns a 17-5 career mark, with 11 of those triumphs coming by way of knockout or technical knockout.