Silva out, Masvidal in vs. Bahadurzada at UFC 201

Jorge Masvidal wasn't willing to wait long to step back into the octagon. After a close loss to Lorenz Larkin late last month, he has accepted a late replacement assignment at UFC 201. The UFC announced today that Masvidal will step in for an injured Claudia Silva, to take on slugger Siyar Bahadurzada at the July 30th event in Atlanta.

Masvidal (29-11, 6-4 UFC) returned to welterweight about a year ago after a long lightweight run. He defeated Cezar Ferreira, but followed that up with two debatable split decision losses to former champ Ben Henderson and the aforementioned Larkin.

Bahadurzada (22-6, 2-2 UFC) has been dealing with a litany of injuries and has only fought four times in the octagon in four years. He is coming off a big submission win over Brandon Thatch at UFC 196 in March.

The bout is expected to take place on the undercard of UFC 201, which will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between champ Robbie Lawler and challenger Tyron Woodley.