Farid Basharat to fight John Garza at UFC 329 after opponent withdraws

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 07: Farid Basharat of Afghanistan reacts after finishing three rounds against Jean Matsumoto of Brazil in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Meta APEX on February 07, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Farid Basharat finally has an opponent for this weekend. MMA Fighting confirmed that, on Saturday, Basharat will take on John Garza in a bantamweight contest on the prelims of UFC 329 in Las Vegas. Marcel Dorff was first to report the matchup. Basharat (15-0) was scheduled to fight rising prospect Ethyn Ewing at the event, but Ewing withdrew from the bout last week after suffering a “detrimental injury” in training. The UFC looked for a replacement and settled on Garza (6-1), who will be making his promotional debut. Basharat is currently ranked No. 15 in the UFC’s bantamweight media rankings, with six consecutive wins in the UFC since signing off the Contender Series in 2022. Most recently, Basharat took a split decision over fellow prospect Jean Matsumoto at UFC Vegas 113 in February. At just 23 years old, Garza has only been a professional fighter for two years, but had a robust amateur career. After losing in his second pro fight, Garza has since been unbeaten, rattling off five wins, primarily in Fury FC, including his most recent victory, a second-round knockout over Josh Walker in January. UFC 329 is headlined by a welterweight fight between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. Damon Martin contributed to this report.