UFC Fight Night 213 Gets Carlos Mota vs. Cody Durden, Loses Garrett Armfield

The UFC Fight Night 213 card is undergoing some changes with less than a week to go before the event.

According to MMAFighting.com, Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion Carlos Mota will step in on short notice to face Cody Durden on Saturday’s card. Mota is a replacement for Kleydson Rodrigues. It is unclear why Rodrigues was removed from the event.

The 27-year-old Mota has compiled an 8-1 career mark with stints in both LFA and Shooto Brazil. Most recently, “Tizil” knocked out Rizvan Abuev in the opening round at LFA 140 to claim the promotion’s 125-pound belt.

Durden is 1-1 in the Las Vegas-based promotion thus far in 2022. He suffered a 58-second submission loss to Muhammad Mokaev at UFC Fight Night 204 before rebounding to defeat J.P. Buys via TKO in the first round of their encounter at UFC on ESPN 38 on June 25.

Meanwhile, Garrett Armfield announced Monday on social media that a staph infection has forced him to withdraw from a proposed featherweight clash against Christian Rodriguez. It is unknown if Rodriguez will remain on the UFC Fight Night 213 card against a replacement opponent.

“So some not so good news guys!” Armfield wrote on his Instagram stories. “Late last week I woke up with an infection that required me to go to the hospital. The infection ended up being a MRSA Staph infection and I was prescribed two weeks of antibiotics. Due to how dangerous MRSA can be, it was advised to stop training, let the body [recover] and wait to fight healthy.

“While it’s extremely disappointing to withdrawal from my fight, it was for the best. I put in months of hard work and sacrifice by not having a side job to fully focus on this dream. I am looking forward to getting back healthy and getting another fight scheduled. Hopefully sooner rather than later!”

UFC Fight Night 213 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight bout pitting Calvin Kattar against Arnold Allen. The main card airs on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.