Vazquez Returns After UFC Release To Face Johns

Gianni Vazquez is back in the UFC less than six months after the promotion cut him.

Vazquez replaces Jessie Rosas opposite Miles Johns on Saturday's UFC Vegas 120 card after the elder Rosas brother withdrew with what a UFC doctor flagged as a potentially infected forehead cut, per MMA Mania. Raul Rosas Jr. posted on Instagram that his brother received clearance from two independent physicians but the UFC's medical staff overruled them. "There's nothing we can do, my brother was ready," he wrote.

Vazquez Takes Another Short-Notice Opportunity

The 27-year-old Mexican bantamweight finds himself in a familiar position. He accepted a UFC Vegas 113 fight against Javid Basharat in February on two days' notice, missed weight by five pounds but put up a creditable performance in defeat. The promotion released him weeks later despite the favor. Vazquez has already returned to winning form outside the UFC with a knockout of Kamron Orkitov under the Combate Global banner.

Johns enters on a three-fight skid against tough opposition. The bout has been moved to featherweight to ease the weight cut on Vazquez's 48-hour turnaround.

UFC Vegas 120 airs Saturday from the Apex in Las Vegas.

Photo: Chamatkar Sandhu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Original reporting:

• mmamania.com — Spurned UFC castoff returns to save the day after Raul Rosas Jr’s brother withdraws | UFC Vegas 120 | MMA Mania