UFC 329 Shakeup: late replacement steps in to face Cody Durden

Alessandro Costa has been tapped as a late replacement to face Cody Durden in a flyweight bout at UFC 329 on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The matchup comes after original opponent Ode Osbourne withdrew weeks prior due to injury sustained during an eight-week training camp.

Costa, who holds a 16-5 record with a 4-3 UFC mark, is riding consecutive victories over Stewart Nicoll and Matt Schnell. Durden, 18-10, recently snapped a four-fight losing streak with an April 25 win over Jafel Filho and will look to build on that momentum against Costa.

UFC 329 is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. McGregor returns to action for the first time since suffering a broken leg in a July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, while Holloway faces a familiar foe—McGregor defeated him via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013 when both competed at featherweight.

The card features several notable bouts on the undercard, including Tracy Cortez versus Cong Wang in a featured flyweight clash on the early prelims, as well as Gable Steveson's Octagon debut and Robert Whittaker's light heavyweight debut against Nikita Krylov. The main card begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Paramount+, with early prelims starting at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT and preliminary bouts at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.