Anthony Romero steps in on three days' notice to face Marcus McGhee at UFC 332

Anthony Romero has accepted a last-minute call to fight Marcus McGhee at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City this Saturday, after original opponent Bernardo Sopaj was forced out through injury with just three days to go.

Romero, a 7-2 (1 NC) newcomer who has competed primarily for Los Angeles-based Up Next Fighting, steps into the octagon for the first time on remarkably short notice. His most recent outing saw him defend the UNF bantamweight title with a first-round knockout over Yuma Horiuchi. The bout has also been rescheduled at featherweight after originally being set for bantamweight.

McGhee, nicknamed “The Maniac”, enters the fight having recently steadied himself after suffering his first UFC loss, a defeat to Petr Yan. He bounced back with a unanimous decision win over John Yannis in June to lift his octagon record to 5-1, and currently sits at No. 15 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings at 135 pounds.

The late change adds further intrigue to a card already headlined by a vacant flyweight title fight between Natalia Silva and Wang Cong. The main card also features Deiveson Figueiredo against Payton Talbott, King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics, Khaos Williams vs. Roberto Soldic, and Ateba Gautier vs. Roman Kopylov.

The preliminary card includes Imanol Rodriguez vs. Alden Coria, Damian Pinas vs. Andrey Pulyaev, and Anthony Wint vs. Lucas Armand, while the early prelims feature notable matchups such as Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev and Rafael dos Anjos vs. Alexander Hernandez.