Fighter Steps in on Four Days' Notice to Debut on Saturday's UFC Fight Night Card

This weekend’s UFC Fight Night card has undergone another personal change just a few days out from the event.

Scheduled as the second of back-to-back shows at the Meta APEX, UFC Vegas 124 was supposed to be headlined by top-ranked welterweight contenders Gabriel Bonfim and Sean Brady.

After Brady was forced out of the fight due a staph infection, the UFC scrambled to put together a new heavyweight main event featuring Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Johnny Walker.

UFC Vegas 124 Adds Austin Bashi vs. Carlos Calderon

The main event change came less than two weeks out from UFC Vegas 124, and the card has apparently added another new bout halfway through fight week.

Johnny Walker (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Mick Parkin (blue gloves) during UFC 332 at Delta Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

First reported by Marcel Dorff, Carlos Calderon will make his UFC debut on short notice again Austin Bashi after Lucas Brennan pulled out of his matchup with Bashi due to a torn ACL.

Austin Bashi Looks to Even Out UFC Record in Las Vegas

A former bantamweight titleholder with Shamrock FC and Light Out Championship, Bashi went 12-0 to start his professional MMA career before earning an invitation to Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024.

Austin Bashi (red gloves) fights Jose Miguel Delgado (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Paycom Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 25-year-old had secured eight of his career wins via stoppage heading into DWCS, and he showcased those finishing skills when he submitted Dorian Ramos in the second round to earn a UFC contract from Dana White.

Jose Miguel Delgado, bottom, fights Austin Bashi during UFC Fight Night 281. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Bashi made his UFC debut four months later and was upset by Christian Rodriguez, but he returned later that year to secure another submission against John Yannis for his first UFC victory.

The American most recently competed at UFC Oklahoma City in July, where he dropped a decision to Jose Delgado.

Carlos Calderon Defended Fury FC Title Last Month

While he’ll be making his UFC debut on very short notice, Calderon did already have a fight scheduled and was slated to try and defend his featherweight belt for the second time in the main event of Fury FC 127 on January 15.

“Chief” also competed on DWCS in 2024 and was submitted by Alberto Montes in the second round, but he rebounded from that setback the following year when he won back-to-back Fury FC fights less than a month apart from each other.

That winning run was halted by a split decision loss to close out 2025, but Calderon opened this year with a first-round finish and also submitted UFC veteran Damon Jackson to claim the Fury FC featherweight belt in May before he successfully defended it just over a month ago.

UFC Vegas 124 Fight Card

Main Event: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Johnny Walker

Co-Main Event: Virna Jandiroba vs. Tatiana Suarez

Davey Grant vs. Elijah Smith

Seok Hyeon Ko vs. Wellington Turman

Billy Elekana vs. Lucas Fernando

Andre Petroski vs. Mantas Kondratavičius

Karine Silva vs. Gabriella Fernandes

Jose Souza vs. Jonny Parsons

Jose Delano vs. Murtazali Magomedov

Ollie Schmid vs. Keiichiro Nakamura

Priscila Cachoeica vs. Nina Milošević

Mitch Raposo vs. Marcos Degli

Thomas Petersen vs. Gabriel Lorenço

Austin Bashi vs. Carlos Calderon

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