Zviad Lazishvili Replaces Aaron Phillips, Faces Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night 196

Zviad Lazishvili has agreed to step in on three days’ notice and face Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night 196.

Lazishvili will serve as a replacement for Aaron Phillips in the bantamweight bout. MMA Ideas was first to report the change. UFC Fight Night 196 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday and is headlined by a middleweight duel between Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.

A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, Lazishvili will make his Octagon debut with an 8-0 professional mark. Most recently, the 29-year-old submitted Ricky Steele in the opening round of their bout at Legacy Fighting Alliance 90 in September 2020.

Martinez, meanwhile, is 4-3 in UFC competition since his 2018 debut. In his last outing, the Factory X product had a two-bout winning streak snapped in a second-round KO loss to Davey Grant at UFC Fight Night 187.