Kopylov originally replaced the injured Chris Curtis, and his fight with Fremd was supposed to take place back on June 17, but was canceled for an unknown reason. The Russian ended up competing at UFC 291 in Las Vegas on July 29, where he earned his third straight knockout victory, finishing Brazilian Claudio Ribeiro with a leg kick to the head.
Josh Fremd will have even less time to prepare for the fight than the Russian, as he last fought on August 12, winning a unanimous decision over Jamie Pickett. Prior to that, the American fighter finished Cedric Dumas with a guillotine choke, thus closing out two opening losses in the UFC.
The bout between Roman Kopylov and Josh Fremd will be part of UFC Fight Night 227, which takes place on September 16 in Las Vegas.