It didn’t take long for the UFC to rebook Jhonata Diniz.

Hours after Derrick Lewis withdrew from their UFC Fight Night 246 clash scheduled for Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the promotion announced it rebooked Diniz (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) for UFC 309 vs. Marcin Tybura (25-9 MMA, 12-8 UFC).

That event takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lewis withdrew due to what the promotion called a “non-weight cut related medical issue.” He nor his team have publicly commented on the matter since his withdrawal late Friday.

Diniz is a former Glory kickboxer who has yet to lose in MMA. After a Dana White’s Contender Series win earned him a contract in 2023, he knocked out Austen Lane in his debut and followed it up with a victory over Karl Williams.

Tybura is nearing his nine-year anniversary with the promotion. He’s become a staple of the UFC heavyweight rankings with wins over Serghei Spivac, Alexandr Romanov, and Tai Tuivasa among others.

With the addition, the UFC 309 lineup includes:

• Champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
• Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira – five-round bout
• Viviane Aruajo vs. Karine Silva
• Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
• Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman
• Jhonata Diniz vs. Marcin Tybura
• Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop
• Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
• Damon Jackson vs. Jim Miller
• Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama
• Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
• Oban Elliott vs. Bassil Hafez
• Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Wolves fought back from a goal down against Crystal Palace but couldn’t hold on for what would have been an important three points.

The defensive frailties of O’Neil’s side proved costly once again, with errors and poor marking essentially gifting Palace both goals.

“I don’t think it’s all on him. The whole group has a lot of responsibility,” said Wolves striker Matheus Cunha when asked about the pressure on O’Neil.

“Any club can pass through this situation, it’s part of the game. We just need to keep working, the results are coming.”

Wolves have failed to win any of their opening 10 games of a league season for only the third time in their history, after 1926-27 and 1983-84.

The silver lining for Wolves is that they ended a run of four consecutive home defeats after what has, admittedly, been a cruel opening schedule.

“The fact the lads are fighting for everything is the positive, you can’t ask for more than what they give,” O’Neil told Sky Sports.

“There were some decisions we made out there that weren’t correct and we’ve got to address that.

“It’s going to be a tough season, we’re going to have to fight and scrap for a long time.”

Is it too early to call Wolves’ clash with Southampton next weekend a relegation six-pointer? The way things are going, probably not.

Belal Muhammad doesn’t believe an interim title fight makes sense for Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 following the welterweight champ’s withdrawal, but he’d be OK with it if the UFC goes in that direction.

“Remember the Name” was set to defend his title for the first time against the undefeated Rakhmonov in the main event of the Dec. 7 pay-per-view event, but a bone infection on his toe scratched Muhammad from the bout. Muhammad was asked on his podcast with Jason Anik what he thinks the promotion will do to fill that empty slot, and whether it could be a fight between Rakhmonov and former champion Kamaru Usman.

“I can see them trying to do something with Shavkat,” Muhammad said on his podcast. “He’s calling for an interim title fight. Interim title fight, bro? It’s six weeks, not six months that I’m off. But even for myself, if they just want to do that just to make it a main event, I don’t really care about it if they want to make an interim title fight, regardless because they know who has the real belt.

“So for me, I know who my next opponent is going to be. If he wants to wait, it’s going to be us. If it’s going to end up being him, the only person that makes sense now would be Kamaru since Buckley and Garry are out… and I think [Jack Della Maddalena] is injured, so there’s really nobody else out there. … It really doesn’t [make sense], but it’s one of those — when you’re in the middle of camp, it’s hard, and when you’re like six weeks left, you’re locked in. So I can understand it for him that he’s like, ‘Bro, I want to fight.’”

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that the UFC is actively searching for a new main event, but as of now, nothing is set and “negotiations are ongoing.”

The news of Muhammad’s injury was a tough one for the new champ, and the MMA community as the fight between Muhammad and Rakhmonov was an anticipated one. Rakhmonov has finished all 18 of his opponents, while Muhammad is unbeaten in 11 fights, culminating with a championship win over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July.

Muhammad also revealed more details about why the infection spread the way that it did.

“They open it up and he’s like, ‘Bro, you had a broken toe, that’s what caused the infection to hit the bone much faster,’” Muhammad said. “He was able to fix the toe but the infection is still in there and [I] have to be on antibiotics for the next six weeks. And I’m shocked, I’m like, ‘Bro, are you kidding me right now?’ It was heartbreaking.”

Fighting in enemy territory will be nothing new to Ariane da Silva, who enters the cage Saturday night to battle Canada’s own Jasmine Jasudavicius at UFC Edmonton.

Da Silva reigned as the KSW flyweight champion before joining the UFC, and that included multiple trips to Poland to face European opponents. With nearly 30 MMA bouts under her belt, “Queen of Violence” welcomes the adversarial energy from the arena.

“I’ve had that experience before,” da Silva said in an interview with MMA Fighting, referring to her second-round knockout win over Katarzyna Lubonska in 2015. “My first international fight for KSW was against a Polish fighter in Poland. I really think Canadian fans will side with [Jasudavicius], but this is a fight. When the cage closes, it’s just the two of us and the referee in there. They can scream, but that won’t interfere the gameplan or what we do in there.”

“But what I really love is to fight in front of an audience,” she continued. “I think that’s what brings out the best of my game, way more than the APEX, for example, with a small and cold crowd. I think this is good for our strategy, to make the fight more exciting.”

Two of da Silva’s past four fights took place inside the UFC APEX, a 1-1 run with wins over JJ Aldrich and a recent defeat to Karine Siva, both via decision. When competing in front of nearly 20,000 fans at T-Mobile Arena during UFC 296, the Brazilian forced Casey O’Neill to tap in the second round with an armbar.

Da Silva scored 10 of her 17 MMA wins via finish, six of those by knockout, and said “I know my opponents fear my striking.”

“I know I have a high-level striking,” da Silva said. “My coach Renato trained at Chute Boxe in Curitiba with Rafael Cordeiro and they have a huge tradition in MMA, and I bring that in my DNA as an athlete. And I’m strong, too.”

Da Silva revealed she expected Jasudavicius to be her next opponent even before the UFC called with the offer, and she loves the match-up due to Jasudavicius’ aggressive style. The Canadian talent has never been finished as a professional, winning five of seven since joining the UFC, but “Queen of Violence” expects to change that this weekend.

“Casey O’Neill had never been submitted before aldo and I’m a striker, but I submitted her,” da Silva said. “I don’t limit myself. This is MMA and anything can happen. I’m aggressive, I have heavy hands, I have the technique, and I’m a finisher. I can end fights on the feet and on the ground, and that’s what I’m after. I’ll try to end this fight from the first round, but I’m also ready to go the distance if I have to.”

There will be two seventh-tier sides in the FA Cup second round after Gainsborough Trinity and Harborough Town both progressed on Saturday – in hugely contrasting manners.

Gainsborough beat eighth-tier Hednesford Town on penalties after an eight-goal thriller.

The two lowest-ranked sides left in the competition were locked at 4-4 after extra time before Jordan Helliwell sealed the shootout 5-4 for the Northern Premier League team.

Harborough, meanwhile, thrashed Tonbridge Angels 4-1 on their first-round proper debut, while National League sides Wealdstone, Dagenham and Redbridge and Oldham all beat League Two opposition.

National League South side Weston-super-Mare forced Bristol Rovers to extra time before going down 3-1, while Northern Premier League Guiseley were edged out 5-4 on penalties by Stevenage, of League One.

More to follow.