Humberto Bandenay out at UFC-Sydney; featherweight sought for Alex Volkanovski

Peruvian prospect Humbert Bandenay (14-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will have to wait to follow up on his scintillating UFC debut.

MMAjunkie today confirmed with UFC officials that Bandenay has been forced to withdraw from a planned UFC Fight Night 121 appearance, and the promotion currently needs a new opponent for featherweight Alex Volkanovski.

Featuring a heavyweight matchup between Fabricio Werdum and Marcin Tybura, UFC Fight Night 121 takes place Nov. 19 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Due to the time change, the card airs in the U.S. on Nov. 18, with the majority airing on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Bandenay was already a replacement opponent, himself, stepping in for an injured Jeremy Kennedy.

Australia’s Volkanovski ran his winning streak to 12 fights in June when he took a unanimous decision from Mizuto Hirota at UFC Fight Night 110 in New Zealand. His UFC debut came in November 2016 in his home country when he stopped Yusuke Kasuya with a second-round TKO in a lightweight fight. Of his 15 career wins, a dozen have come by stoppage.

The 23-year-old Bandenay, from Peru, made his promotional debut in August at UFC Fight night 114 – and it was an impressive one. He knocked out Martin Bravo in just 26 seconds with a knee in Mexico City. He picked up a $50,000 fight-night bonus for his quick work.

A timetable for his return was not immediately established.

With the withdrawal, UFC Fight Night 121 now includes:

MAIN CARD (FS1, 10 p.m. ET)

• Fabricio Werdum vs. Marcin Tybura
• Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Rawlings
• Tim Means vs. Belal Muhammad
• Daniel Kelly vs. Elias Theodorou
• Alex Volkanovski vs. opponent TBA

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Ryan Benoit vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian
• Will Brooks vs. Nik Lentz
• Anthony Hamilton vs. Adam Wieczorek
• Damien Brown vs. Frank Camacho

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET )

• Alex Chambers vs. Nadia Kassem
• Jenel Lausa vs. Eric Shelton
• Jake Matthews vs. Bojan Velickovic
• Rashad Coulter vs. Tai Tuivasa

Fore more on UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.