Dricus Du Plessis Steps in to Face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 273

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

@DricusDuPlessis putting South Africa on the map! #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/kinqJld3o9

— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021

Kelvin Gastelum will remain on the UFC 273 card after all, as Dricus Du Plessis has agreed to step in and face “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner on April 9.

Gastelum was originally slated to meet Nassourdine Imavov before the bout was canceled due to visa issues for his opponent. ESPN was first to report the new middleweight booking. Du Plessis was scheduled to fight Anthony Hernandez at UFC 273, but according to MMAFighting.com, Hernandez will remain on the bill and lock horns with promotional newcomer Josh Fremd.

This is the third different opponent for Du Plessis at UFC 273. Before being booked against Hernandez, he was supposed to square off against Chris Curtis, who pulled out due to a wrist injury. The former KSW and EFC champion has won four straight fights, including back-to-back knockouts of Trevin Giles and Markus Perez in the Octagon.

Gastelum has lost five of his last six Octagon appearances, including a unanimous decision defeat to Jared Cannonier in his last outing at UFC on ESPN 29. Imavov is 3-1 in the promotion and is coming off back-to-back triumphs over Ian Heinisch and Edmen Shahbazyan.

UFC 273 takes place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung.