Russell Doane steps in to face Mirsad Bektic on five days' notice at UFC 204

It looks like the game of musical chairs for Mirsad Bektic is over, and he finally has an opponent for this week.

Bektic (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) now will face Russell Doane (14-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in a featherweight fight at UFC 204 on Saturday. UFC officials announced the change early today.

Doane steps in for Jeremy Kennedy (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who had stepped in for the injured Arnold Allen (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC). Kennedy’s removal came on the same day he was announced for the fight.

UFC 204 takes place Oct. 8 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Bektic is No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings; Doane is unranked. The fight is scheduled to kick off the main card.

Doane may be putting his UFC job on the line in the fight. He is on a three-fight losing skid after a submission loss to Pedro Munhoz at UFC Fight Night 90 in July in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he had consecutive decision losses to Jerrod Sanders and Iuri Alcantara. He had started his UFC tenure 2-0 with a bonus-winning submission of L eandro Issa at UFC Fight Night 34 and a decision over Marcus Brimage at UFC 175.

Bektic is 3-0 since joining the UFC with decision victories over Chas Skelly and Paul Redmond, as well as a recent TKO win over Lucas Martins. The 25-year-old Bosnian fighter, who’s previously competed for Victory FC, RFA and Titan FC, returns from a 16-month injury layoff when he fights at UFC 204.

The latest UFC 204 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson – for middleweight title
• Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi
• Jimi Manuwa vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Daniel Omielanczuk vs. Stefan Struve
• Mirsad Bektic vs. Russell Doane

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

• Iuri Alcantara vs. Brad Pickett
• Ian Entwistle vs. Rob Font
• Davey Grant vs. Damian Stasiak
• Leon Edwards vs. Albert Tumenov

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

• Mike Perry vs. Danny Roberts
• Adriano Martins vs. Leonardo Santos
• Marc Diakiese vs. Lukasz Sajewski

For more on UFC 204, check out the UFC Rumors section of the card.