Derrick Lewis now fighting Jhonata Diniz at UFC Edmonton, Alexander Romanov faces Rodrigo Nascimento

UFC Edmonton is getting a shake up.

UFC Edmonton takes place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada on Nov. 2 and was supposed to feature a top-15 heavyweight matchup between Derrick Lewis and Alexander Romanov; however, the UFC decided to mix things up as Lewis will now face Jhonata Diniz. The news was first reported by Laerte Viana and later confirmed to MMA Fighting with multiple sources.

Currently No. 11 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Lewis is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster and the promotional leader in knockouts with 15. Most recently he knocked out Rodrigo Nascimento at UFC St. Louis.

A former Glory kickboxer, Diniz made his UFC debut in April after being signed off the Contender Series, knocking out Austen Lane. He then won a unanimous decision over Karl Williams at UFC Vegas 95 to move to 2-0 in the promotion.

There’s no word yet on why the change was made as MMA Fighting confirmed that Romanov will in fact stay on the card, and is now expected to instead square off with Rodrigo Nascimento.

Currently No. 12 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Romanov made his UFC debut in 2020 and quickly amassed five wins in the organization before falling short against Marcin Tybura at UFC 278. Since then he’s gone 1-2, most recently losing to Jailton Almeida at UFC 302 in June.

The No. 15-ranked heavyweight in the UFC, Nascimento had an up-and-down start to his UFC career before rattling off three straight wins to earn a ranking. Most recently, he lost to Lewis via third-round knockout back at UFC St. Louis.

UFC Edmonton will be headlined by a women’s flyweight bout between Erin Blanchfield and former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

Mike Heck and Damon Martin contributed to this report.