MMA Odds and Ends for Tuesday: Joe Soto now faces Marco Beltran at UFC Fight Night 98, Brett Johns signs with the UFC

480 Joe Soto replaces Guido Cannetti against Marco Beltran at UFC Fight Night 98 With Guido Cannetti being removed from this card due to a potential USADA violation, UFC officials announced Monday that former title challenger Joe Soto will now face Marco Beltran this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 98. Soto (16-5) earned his first UFC victory in his last fight, submitting Chris Beal at UFC Fight Night 89. With the win, the former Bellator title challenger snapped a three-fight losing streak. Beltran (8-3) heads into this matchup off three straight wins with victories over Marlon Vera, Ning Guangyou and Reginaldo Vieira. UFC Fight Night 98, aka The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale, takes place Saturday at the Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. Here’s an updated look at the card… Rafael dos Anjos vs. Tony Ferguson Martin Bravo vs. Claudio Puelles Marcin Held vs. Diego Sanchez Ricardo Lamas vs. Charles Oliveira Beneil Dariush vs. Rashid Magomedov Erik Perez vs. Felipe Arantes Marco Beltran vs. Joe Soto Max Griffin vs. Erick Montano Henry Briones vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade Sam Alvey vs. Alex Nicholson Marco Polo Reyes vs. Jason Novelli Chris Avila vs. Enrique Barzola Brett Johns signs with the UFC and fights Kwan Ho Kwak at UFC Belfast UFC officials also announced that former Titan FC bantamweight champion Brett Johns has signed with the promotion and will make his debut against Kwan Ho Kwak on November 19th. Johns (12-0) hasn’t competed since a July 2015 victory over Anthony Gutierrez at Titan FC 34. The 24-year-old was slated to fight Ricky Simon at Titan FC 37 this past March but had to withdraw due to injury. Kwak  (9-0) also makes his UFC debut and boasts five of his nine career victories by stoppage. He most recently competed at Top FC 11 back in May, when he earned a unanimous-decision victory over UFC vet Alp Ozkilic. Bellator 166 adds Davis vs. Galvao and Honeycutt vs. Reiter Bellator announced in a press release Monday that L.C. Davis vs. Marcos Galvao and Chris Honeycutt vs. Chris Reiter have been added to Bellator 166. Davis (23-7) is coming off a UD setback to Joe Warrior at Bellator 143 back in September. The loss snapped Davis’ three-fight win streak. Galvao (17-7-1) lost his bantamweight title in a rematch to Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 156 that subsequently snapped his four-fight win streak. Honeycutt (8-1) heads into this contest off back-to-back victories, Reiter (17-1-1) is coming off a UD victory over A.J. Matthews at Bellator 156. Bellator 166 takes place Friday, December 2nd at WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Okla. Here’s an updated look at the card… MAIN CARD (Spike, 9 p.m. ET) Eduardo Dantas (c) vs. Joe Warren – for bantamweight title A.J. McKee vs. Emmanuel Sanchez LC Davis vs. Marcos Galvao Chris Honeycutt vs. Ben Reiter PRELIMINARY CARD (7 p.m. ET) Treston Thomison vs. Ray Wood Derrick Adkins vs. Chris Jones Jon Lair vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu Levi Queen vs. Chance Rencountre Gregory Babene vs. Emiliano Sodi

Written by James Lynch

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