Earlier today, Gastón Bolaños announced that he suffered a cut on his eyebrow during training and that he can’t compete on October 31 against Francis Marshall anymore. The UFC has found a replacement for the Peruvian fighter. Dakota Hope steps in to take on Marshall at UFC Vegas 123 in the featherweight division.
Multiple sources have confirmed the fight to Heavy.com. Neither Marshall nor Hope is ranked in the featherweight division. Marshall won his two most recent fights in the UFC, while Hope is waiting for his first win inside the Octagon.
Fire Marshall
Francis Marshall earned his contract with the UFC in 2022. After winning his fight on the Contender Series against Connor Matthews, he made his debut at the end of the year against Marcelo Rojo. Marshall won in the second round via knockout and kept his undefeated record intact. His sophomore year in the UFC wasn’t a successful one. He lost for the first time in his professional career against William Gomis and got finished in his next fight against Isaac Dulgarian.
Marshall bounced back with a split decision win over Dennis Buzukja but then lost a controversial split decision against Mairon Santos. Because of the controversial loss, he only won one of his last four fights and knew that he needed to win at the beginning of this year against Erik Silva. Marshall showed up in big fashion and submitted Silva in the first round by rear-naked choke. In his most recent fight, he accepted a fight at lightweight on short notice against Lucas Brennan. Marshall won via unanimous decision and looks to extend his winning streak against Dakota Hope later this month.
A New Hope
Dakota Hope is one of the newer fighters on the UFC roster. The 29-year-old American known for his vicious power started his professional MMA career in 2019. Hope won titles in the regional scene but came onto the UFC radar when he fought for LFA and Fury FC. After his win against Mauricio Gomez at the beginning of this year, Hope hoped for an opportunity to fight on the Contender Series.
That didn’t happen because he got the UFC call to fight on short notice against Kai Kamaka III in April of this year. After three hard rounds in a fight that easily could’ve been ‘Fight of the Night,’ Hope dropped a split decision. Now he is back for his sophomore fight in the UFC. Again on short notice in Las Vegas.
UFC Vegas 123 – Las Vegas (October 31)
- Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan
- Randy Brown vs. TBA
- Lucia Szabová vs. Tainara Lisboa
- Yana Santos vs. Luana Santos
- Talita Alencar vs. Piera Rodriguez
- Nick Klein vs. Joe Kropschot
- Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Theodor Berggren
- Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. Farman Hasanov
- Azamat Bekoev vs. Andre Petroski
- Julian Erosa vs. JeongYeong Lee
- Francis Marshall vs. Dakota Hope
- Cody Durden vs. Ode’ Osbourne
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