Olivier Aubin-Mercier to fight Evan Dunham at UFC 223

MMAfighting.com

Thanks to Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Evan Dunham is still on his way to Brooklyn.

“The Quebec Kid” has agreed to step in on short notice to fight Dunham (18-6-1) at UFC 223 on April 7 at the Barclays Center, as a replacement for Mairbek Taisumov who was recently forced to withdraw due to visa issues.

Dunham and Aubin-Mercier announced the matchup on their social media accounts, though the bout has not been officially confirmed by the UFC.

The 29-year-old Aubin-Mercier (10-2) is currently riding a three-fight winning streak, with a split decision nod over Tony Martin in his most recent outing at UFC Pittsburgh. Prior to that, Aubin-Mercier picked up back-to-back submission wins over Drew Dober and Thibault Gouti. Overall, the Ultimate Fighter Nations runner-up has won six of his eight fights in the UFC.

Dunham, 36, is on an unbeaten run of his own. He battled Beneil Dariush to a majority draw atUFC 216 last October, which came on the heels of four straight unanimous decision victories. His last loss came in July 2014 and the 11-year veteran’s UFC record stands at 11-6-1.

UFC 223 will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between interim champion Tony Fergusonand Khabib Nurmagomedov. In the co-main event, strawweight champion Rose Namajunasdefends against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

See the updated card for UFC 223 below:

Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Al Iaquinta vs. Paul Felder

Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig

Joe Lauzon vs. Chris Gruetzemacher

Anthony Pettis vs. Michael Chiesa

Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno

Bec Rawlings vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith

Artem Lobov vs. Alex Caceres

Renato Moicano vs. Calvin Kattar

Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak