Andre Fili has stepped in to face Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Vegas 119 after Giga Chikadze withdrew from the event.
Chikadze was scheduled for a Featherweight bout with Oliveira on Sat., June 20, 2026, at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but remains suspended in Nevada and is not allowed to compete in Las Vegas until June 24th.
Giorgi Kokiashvili outlined the situation, stating, "Here’s the situation: Giga is allowed to fight EVERYWHERE except Las Vegas," and added, "The Las Vegas commission is not allowing him to fight until June 24th. There is no further explanation as to why he is not allowed to fight. By the way, Giga is not injured at all …"
Chikadze’s Nevada suspension is described as being related to his knockout loss to Kevin Vallejos in December.
Oliveira will now face Fili while moving up from Bantamweight to Featherweight after a loss to Mario Bautista in his first main event, which followed a four-fight UFC win streak at Bantamweight. Fili enters the matchup having split his last four bouts, with wins over Cub Swanson and Christian Rodriguez and losses to Melquizael Costa and Jose Miguel Delgado.
UFC Vegas 119 is headlined by a Flyweight rematch between Manel Kape and Kyoji Horiguchi.
