David Branch has gotten a new opponent for UFC 230 after Ronaldo Souza was moved to a bout against Chris Weidman, as ESPN reports that Jared Cannonier will now face Branch at the event.
This could cause issues for the upcoming UFC Fight Night Buenos Aires card, as Cannonier was reportedly fighting Alessio Di Chirico at that event.
Branch (22-4-0) has won two of three bouts during his second round in the UFC, with those wins coming over the duo of Thiago Santos and Krzysztof Jotko. Branch was a dual champion in the World Series Of Fighting, as he held the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles. Branch has suffered just a single defeat in the last six-plus years, which came to former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold at UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh.
Cannonier (10-4-0) is making his UFC Middleweight Division debut in this bout, having previously competed at light heavyweight and heavyweight. Cannonier also enters the contest while in the midst of a two fight losing streak, having dropped bouts to the duo of Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes. Cannonier is a former Alaska Fighting Championships Heavyweight Champion, defeating Tony Lopez to win the gold in January of 2014.
UFC 230 takes place on Saturday, November 3 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
