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Bektic
Mirsad Bektic at UFC Stockholm weigh-in. Photo by Jorden Curran.

After two previous opponents, Mirsad Bektic finally has a finalised name for this Saturday’s UFC 204, battling Russell Doane at the Manchester Arena.

It’s been a turbulent time for undefeated Bektic (10-0) who was originally schedule to face Arnold Allen on October 8, before the Brit suffered an injury.

Then, it was Jeremy Kennedy, the Canadian was removed from the fight the same day it was announced by the UFC, again following an injury.

Now the UFC have announced Doanne as the final replacement for the Manchester pay-per-view, with the Hawaiian potentially fighting for his own pink slip.

Making his return after 16-months, Bektic is without question a Featherweight the UFC have a lot of stock in. The opening fight on the UFC 204 PPV, the Bosnian-American could have potentially served as the party spoiler for original foe Allen.

Since joining the UFC in early 2014, the 25-year-old has toppled some of 145lb’s biggest prospects, beating Chas Skelly, Paul Redmond and Lucas Martins.

For Doane though, he may not receive as much admiration from the UFC, despite helping to save one of their PPV fights. The 30-year-old made a very strong to his UFC career in 2014, beating both Leandro Issa and TUF alum Marcus Brimage.

But Doane was unable to maintain his momentum and suffered from a three-fight skid, which includes a decision loss to fellow UFC 204 star, Iuri Alcantara. Now 2-3 in his UFC career, Manchester could prove to be do or die for Doane.