Ricardo Lamas will now fight Bill Algeo this Saturday night at the UFC APEX after Ryan Hall pulled out through injury.
Many fans weren’t entirely sure whether or not the UFC would be able to find someone on such short notice, with most focusing on their disappointment that the initial bout had been called off in the first place.
A report from MMA Fighting has confirmed that Algeo will be the man who steps up for his first official fight with the promotion to lock horns with Lamas at featherweight.
Algeo did compete in Dana White’s Contender Series last June, but he came up short in a unanimous decision loss to Brendan Loughnane. He’s coming into this fight off the back of a win over Tim Dooling, and he’s doing so against a man in Ricardo Lamas that is desperate to get his career back on track.
Ten days prior to the fight against Loughnane, Lamas suffered a devastating knockout loss against Calvin Kattar. After the defeat he took to social media in order to detail the injuries that he suffered.
“Update: I suffered 3 fractures in my jaw during the fight. Been in the hospital since & had surgery yesterday. Titanium plates were installed. I asked the doctor to install small laser guns in my mouth that I could activate with my tongue and shoot through my teeth but he said that was impossible. I’d like to thank everyone who reached out with kind messages. I’d like to thank my family, my beautiful wife, who without I wouldn’t be able to live my dream, my parents & brothers who have all supported me from day one & all my extended family for their support as well as my sponsors. For my beloved city of Chicago, I’m sorry I let you down again, but I wanted to thank you for all the cheers you gave me during my introduction, it gave me chills and I will never forget it, Chicago truly has the best fans. For now, it’s quality time with my family & baby #3 coming early August which puts in perspective what’s really important in life.” – Ricardo Lamas on Instagram
Will Algeo be able to cause one of the biggest upsets of the year so far against Ricardo Lamas? We’ll find out this weekend.