Breaking: Tatiana Suarez withdraws from UFC 298 clash against Amanda Lemos, Mackenzie Dern steps in as replacement 

Mackenzie Dern is reportedly set to face Amanda Lemos at UFC 298 after Tatiana Suarez was forced out of her scheduled bout due to injury. The Suarez vs. Lemos fight was expected to headline the ESPN+ portion of the prelims for the pay-per-view event. The new matchup is likely to keep the same spot on the card.

The UFC 298 event is set to go down on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. It will be headlined by a blockbuster featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria. Meanwhile, a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa will serve as the co-main event.

Earlier today, Brian Martin of OC Register first reported the news of Suarez pulling out of the fight, which was later confirmed by several media outlets. The Suarez-Lemos fight was expected to be among the prime showcase matchups for the card and was seen as a title shot test for the 33-year-old Californian.

Suarez is undefeated as a fighter with a record of 10-0 and is coming off a second-round submission win over Jessica Andrade at UFC Nashville. On the other hand, Lemos and Dern are both coming off losses and will be looking to redeem themselves at UFC 298.

Lemos is coming off a unanimous decision title loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 292 last August, whereas Dern was handed a second-round knockout loss by Andrade at UFC 295 last November.