New opponent, new weight class.

On Friday afternoon,UFC officials announced Andrew Holbrook has been forced out his scheduled about against rising lightweight prospect Sage Northcutt at UFC on FOX 18 later this month

As a result, Northcutt will now move up to welterweight in order to fight Bryan Barberena on the main card of the Newark event.

Barbarena (10-3) was scheduled to fight Jonavin Webb at UFC Fight Night 82 next month before being tabbed as Holbrook’s replacement. Against Northcutt, the MMA Lab product will be looking to get back into the win column after dropping unanimous decision loss to Chad Laprise at UFC 186 last April. Prior to this setback, “Bam Bam” walked away with a third round TKO in his UFC debut over Joe Ellenberger at UFC on FOX 13. To date, only one of his professional victories has reached the judges scorecard.

Northcutt (7-0), everyone’s favorite spikey-haired 19-year-old, is coming off the biggest win of his career in the form of a second round submission win over Cody Pfister at UFC Fight Night 80 last Thursday.

Prior to this win, the man known as “Super” made waves during his UFC debut after walking away with a 57-seconds TKO over Francisco Trevino at UFC 192 earlier this month. Currently enrolled at Texas A&M, Northcutt first rose to prominence following his appearance on UFC President’s Dana White’s Looking for a Fight web series where fans witness him score an impressive second round submission over Gage Duhon under the Legacy FC banner. To date, all seven of his career wins have been finishes, with only reaching past the first round.

UFC on FOX 18 is currently scheduled to take place January 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. A light heavyweight fight between top contenders Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader will serve as the main event.

About The Author

News Manager

José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.