Chris Barnett gets new opponent for UFC Fight Night 244

Chris Barnett has a new opponent for his long-awaited return to the UFC cage.

Junior Tafa has joined UFC Fight Night 244 in place of Waldo Cortes-Acosta, the promotion recently announced. The three-round heavyweight bout takes place on October 12th at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Cortes-Acosta's manager Javier Torres of Skillset Management told MMA Junkie on Sunday that an injury was the reason for his client's withdrawal. Cortes-Acosta is expected to return in six to eight weeks.

Tafa (5-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) last competed at UFC 305 in August when he lost to Valter Walker by verbal submission. After the break, tempers heated up. Tafa punched Walker and the two were separated in the cage by security after the fight. The defeat was his second in a row.

Barnett (23-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has not competed since September 2022. He has since been booked for two more dates but withdrew from each one. Barnett's last outing was a TKO against Jake Collier at UFC 279.

With the change, the UFC Fight Night 244 lineup includes:

• Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira

• Jun Yong Park vs. Brad Tavares

• Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia

• Cory McKenna vs. Julia Polastri

• Alex Morono vs. Daniel Rodriguez

• Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd

• Jared Gooden vs. Chidi Njokuani

• Ramazonbek Temirov vs. CJ Vergara

• Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini

• Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price

• Chris Barnett vs. Junior Tafa

• Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon

• Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC Fight Night 244 event hub.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chris Barnett gets new opponent for UFC Fight Night 244