Josh Fremd Replaces Anthony Hernandez Against Roman Kopylov at Noche UFC Card

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A Ultimate Fighting Championship fight previously booked between Chris Curtis and Anthony Hernandez has completely transformed.

On Wednesday, Hernandez announced that he had suffered an injury during training, and that he has been forced out of the Noche UFC event in September. At one time, middleweights Curtis and Hernandez were set to square off, but Curtis also sustained an injury that knocked him out of the pairing. Roman Kopylov (11-2) tagged in to face Hernandez, and now Josh Fremd (11-4) will be taking Hernandez’ place. Fremd confirmed his short-notice appearance on Instagram on Wednesday.

Fremd appeared earlier in August to snag a decision over Jamie Pickett, and in the process put himself on a win streak in the Octagon. In March, Fremd snapped a two-bout skid by tapping out Sedriques Dumas in the second round. Before then, Fremd unsuccessfully debuted in the promotion against Hernandez in April 2022, and Tresean Gore put him to sleep with a guillotine choke last October.

Like Fremd, Kopylov currently has momentum on his side. The Russian has racked up three straight knockouts from 2022 to now, putting away Alessio Di Chirico, Punahele Soriano and Claudio Ribeiro in the span about 11 months. Also like Fremd, Kopylov dropped his first two outings in the UFC. In 2019, Karl Roberson tapped him with a late rear-naked choke, and thereby ended the unbeaten streak of the fighter from Novosibirsk. A rebound effort nearly two years later – thanks in part to multiple COVID-related cancelations and visa issues – also saw him fall short, this time to Albert Duraev.

Noche UFC, also known as UFC Fight Night 227, will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 16. Atop the billing will be a 125-pound title fight pitting new divisional queen Alexa Grasso against ex-champ Valentina Shevchenko. The co-headliner will see Kevin Holland and Jack Della Maddalena battle it out in a welterweight scrap. Other fights on the card include a flyweight contest between Tracy Cortez and Jasmine Jasudavicius, as well as a strawweight tilt as Lupita Godinez faces off against Sam Hughes.