Bryce Mitchell steps into UFC 296 vs. Josh Emmett on short notice

Bryce Mitchell is stepping in short notice.

With Giga Chikadze out due to a groin injury, Mitchell (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) inserts into the lineup opposite Josh Emmett (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in a featherweight contender prelim. The fight takes place as part of UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The promotion announced the change Wednesday.

Mitchell, 29, bounced back from a submission loss to Ilia Topuria when he defeated Dan Ige by unanimous decision in September.

Emmett, 38, looks to snap a two-fight losing skid. He most recently competed in June in a lopsided unanimous decision outing to Topuria. Prior to that, Emmett lost an interim title bout against Yair Rodriguez by submission.

With the change, the UFC 296 lineup includes:

• Champ Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

• Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett

• Ian Machado Garry vs. Vicente Luque

• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson

• Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell

• Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa

• Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher

• Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill

• Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield

• Martin Buday vs. Shamil Gaziev

• Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov

• Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie