Mauricio Ruffy gets new UFC 309 opponent

Mauricio Ruffy has another opponent locked for UFC 309 after the withdrawal of Charlie Campbell.

Stepping in on short notice is Peru’s James Llontop, a Dana White’s Contender Series alum who is in search of his first UFC victory. The lightweight clash is penciled in to be the featured prelim Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently confirmed the change to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Te La Canté MMA first reported the new matchup Tuesday.

Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has struggled to find and keep opponents since a scintillating promotional debut knockout of Jamie Mullarkey in February. He was targeted for fights at UFC 303 and UFC 307 prior to his final arrival at UFC 309.

Llontop (14-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) entered the UFC on a 12-fight winning streak, which was snapped when he was submitted by Chris Padilla in April. Llontop returned in August and lost a split decision to Viacheslav Borshchev.

Check out the full UFC 309 lineup below:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
• Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira – five-round bout
• Viviane Aruajo vs. Karine Silva
• Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
• Eryk Anders vs. Chris Weidman

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)

• Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop
• Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
• Damon Jackson vs. Jim Miller

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD

• Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama
• Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
• Oban Elliott vs. Bassil Hafez
• Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.