Conor McGregor and Charlie Ward pictured at a boxing event at the National Stadium in Dublin last November. INPHO / Colm O'Neill  INPHO / Colm O'Neill  / Colm O'Neill 

CHARLIE WARD WILL make his debut in the UFC three weeks sooner than expected.

Ward (3-1) had been signed to have his first outing for the organisation against Randy Brown (8-1) in Albany on 9 December at UFC Fight Night 102.

But sources have confirmed to The42 that he will instead fight two weeks from today at UFC Fight Night 99 against a new opponent, details of which are to be announced in the coming days.

UFC Fight Night 99 will take place at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Saturday, 19 November. The event was originally due to be headlined by a welterweight bout between Dong Hyun Kim and Gunnar Nelson, who’s a Straight Blast Gym colleague of Ward’s.

However, an injury forced Nelson to withdraw from the bout. The new main event will be a middleweight rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.

SBG’s Artem Lobov will also feature on the card against Teruto Ishihara, while Dubliner Neil Seery will take on Ian McCall.

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