Josiah Harell has a shot at redemption.
Nearly three years after his UFC debut fell through on weigh-in day due to a major health scare, the Matt Brown-trained welterweight has again signed with the promotion for a short-notice fight. This time, it’s Feb. 21, replacing the injured Seok Hyun Ko and fighting Jacobe Smith, promotion officials announced Friday. The bout takes place at Toyota Center in Houston.
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Harrell (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was briefly onboarded onto the UFC roster in July 2023 for a short-notice bout vs. Jack Della Maddalena. However, his fight week medical scans detected a rare brain disease, and he was pulled from the bout.
Diagnosed with moyamoya, Harrell underwent brain surgery to reroute blood flow in his brain and prevent clotting and a potential stroke. Vowing to one day make it back to the big leagues, Harrell returned to the regional scene following the surgery and went 4-0 with three wins in Ohio Combat League and one in LFA.
Smith (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is one of the most highly-touted prospects in MMA. He entered the sport after a wrestling career at the University of Oklahoma and was taken under the wing of fellow alumnus Daniel Cormier. Smith has finished both of his UFC wins to date with a knockout of Preston Parsons and a submission of Niko Price.
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The updated UFC Fight Night 267 lineup includes:
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Geoff Neal vs. Uros Medic
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Dan Ige vs. Melquizael Costa
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Ante Delija vs. Serghei Spivac
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Michel Pereira vs. Zach Reese
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Josiah Harrell vs. Jacobe Smith
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Carlos Leal vs. Chidi Njokuani
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Alibi Idiris vs. Ode Osbourne
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Alden Coria vs. Luis Gurule
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Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards
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Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Puna Soriano
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Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. Phil Rowe
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Yadier del Valle vs. Jordan Leavitt
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Carli Judice vs. Juliana Miller
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Josiah Harrell gets second UFC shot after brain scare nixed debut
