Four days after the UFC announced Vitor Petrino vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu for the March 14 card at the Meta APEX, the Brazilian heavyweight already has a new opponent as Steven Asplund stepped in as a replacement.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the switch to MMA Fighting on Tuesday. It’s still unclear what forced Nzechukwu off the card.
Petrino (13-2) has scored two wins since moving to heavyweight in 2025, tapping out Austen Lane with a rear-naked choke and then pocketing a $50,000 performance bonus for his third-round knockout over Thomas Petersen at UFC Rio.
Asplund (7-1) stopped Sean Sharaf via knockout in his UFC debut this past December after he scored with a 16-second knockout win over Anthony Guarascio, which earned him a contract at Dana White’s Contender Series just three months earlier.
UFC Vegas 114 is headlined by featherweight finishers Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos. Check the updated lineup below.
- Josh Emmett vs. Kevin Vallejos.
- Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson
- Ion Cutelaba vs. Oumar Sy
- Bia Mesquita vs. Montserrat Rendon
- Bruno Silva vs. Lone’er Kavanaugh
- Vitor Petrino vs. Steven Asplund
- Chris Curtis vs. Myktybek Orolbai
- Brad Tavares vs. Eryk Anders
- Elijah Smith vs. SuYoung You
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Luan Lacerda
- Marwan Rahiki vs. Harry Hardwick
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Sam Hughes
Mike Heck contributed to this report.