Yuta Sasaki replaces Paddy Holohan at UFC Fight Night 87

Paddy Holohan was forced to retire due to a rare blood disorder, and the UFC found a new opponent for Willie Gates at UFC Fight Night 87. Scheduled for May 8 at Rotterdam, the card will now feature Gates versus Yuta Sasaki in a flyweight bout, sources told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

Gates (12-6) looks for his second win inside the Octagon after a 1-2 run under the promotion’s banner, with a 96-second victory over Darrell Montague sandwiched by third-round losses to one-time title contender John Moraga and Dustin Ortiz.

Sasaki (18-3-2), who competed as a bantamweight in his three previous UFC fights, will cut down to 125 pounds following back-to-back losses to Leandro Issa and Taylor Lapilus. Sasaki’s only win under the UFC banner took place in his debut, when he tapped Roland Delorme in 66 seconds.

Headlined by teammates Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski in a heavyweight clash, UFC Fight Night 87 takes place at the Ahoy Rotterdam arena in Netherlands.

Alistair Overeem vs. Andrei Arlovski
Stefan Struve vs. Antonio Silva
Gunnar Nelson vs. Albert Tumenov
Chris Wade vs. Rustam Khabilov
Yan Cabral vs. Reza Madadi
Nikita Krylov vs. Francimar Barroso
Magnus Cedenblad vs. Garreth McLellan
Willie Gates vs. Yuta Sasaki
Nick Hein vs. Jon Tuck
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Heather Clark
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Neil Seery
Leon Edwards vs. Dominic Waters
Germaine de Randamie vs. Anna Elmose