Chris Barnett out of UFC Vegas 98 due to Hurricane Milton; Junior Tafa gets new opponent

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A late change has been made to Saturday’s UFC Vegas 98 card after heavyweight Chris Barnett was knocked out of his fight against Junior Tafa.

Barnett was removed from the card due to issues related to Hurricane Milton, and he won’t be able to compete. UFC officials confirmed the change on Wednesday.

With Barnett unable to fight, Tafa now faces UFC newcomer Sean Sharaf, who accepts the fight on short notice with his UFC debut now just a few days away. The news was originally reported by Code Sports on Tuesday.

Sharaf joins the UFC roster with a 4-0 record with all four wins coming by way of first round knockout.

The 31-year-old heavyweight prospect trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas so it’s close proximity to where he’ll fight on Saturday at the UFC APEX.

He’ll attempt to keep his undefeated record in tact while facing Tafa, who comes into the fight off two straight losses. Most recently Tafa fell by first round heel hook submission to Valter Walker, which dropped his overall UFC record to 1-3.

The fight between Tafa and Sharaf is expected to take place on the preliminary card, which kick off at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.