Dunham reveals he's fighting Aubin-Mercier at UFC 223 with Taisumov out

Evan Dunham has Olivier Aubin-Mercier to thank for remaining on UFC 223's bill.

With original opponent Mairbek Taisumov still plagued by visa issues, the longtime lightweight announced Friday on Twitter that Aubin-Mercier has agreed to step up and face him on April 7 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Dunham is unbeaten in his last five and was last seen fighting Beneil Dariush to a majority draw at UFC 216 in October. His most recent victory came in September 2016 at UFC Fight Night 94, where he took a one-sided verdict over Rick Glenn.

Aubin-Mercier had been scheduled to face Gilbert Burns at UFC on FOX 28 last month, only for the fight to be scrapped when Burns entered fight week a whopping 30 pounds above the lightweight limit. The Quebec native now heads to Brooklyn on a three-fight win streak, the latest coming in the form of a split decision over Tony Martin at UFC Fight Night 116 in September.

As for Taisumov, he told MMA Fighting's Peter Carroll on Friday he hopes to be rescheduled for UFC 224 on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro.

UFC 223 will see interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov clash in the main event, with strawweight queen Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk running it back in the co-headliner.