Ben Rothwell to fight Chris Barnett at May 22 UFC show

Ben Rothwell didn’t have to wait long for the UFC find him a new opponent.

MMA Fighting confirmed with sources with knowledge of the new matchup that Rothwell (38-13) will fight veteran Chris Barnett (21-6) at a UFC event on May 22, which takes place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The bout was first reported by Fight Bananas.

Rothwell was supposed to fight this past weekend, but opponent Philipe Lins was officially removed from the bout on Friday after not being medically cleared to compete. This will be the third opponent Rothwell has had booked for May 22 after officials reportedly attempted to re-book the Lins matchup, and then pair him up with newcomer Askar Mozharov, both of whom have been forced to withdraw.

Barnett, a 12-year pro, has competed for promotions all across the world including Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation, Abu Dhabi’s UAE Warriors, and South Korea’s ROAD FC, as well as several well-known regional promotions in North America. “Beast Boy” has won six straight fights and hasn’t lost since October 2017. He holds notable wins over Walt Harris and Travis Wiuff.

The May 22 UFC event will be headlined by a matchup between bantamweight contenders Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt.

Alexander K. Lee contributed to this report.