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.