Jacobe Smith Replaces Carlos Leal Against Randy Brown at UFC Vegas 123

The UFC Halloween card has a new co-main event. Undefeated welterweight Jacobe Smith has agreed to step in on 12 days' notice to face veteran Randy Brown at UFC Vegas 123, which takes place on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Brown had been scheduled to meet Carlos Leal, but Leal was forced to pull out of the bout, and Smith takes his place.

Four UFC fights without a full camp

Smith, 13-0 as a professional, has now accepted four UFC assignments without the benefit of a full training camp. The 30-year-old most recently needed less than two minutes to knock out short-notice newcomer Bruce Whitehead in the first round at UFC 332. Before that, he stopped Josiah Harrell in roughly three minutes at UFC Houston earlier this year. A win over Brown would close his 2026 campaign with a perfect 3-0 record and would be the biggest win of his career so far, according to the report.

Brown holds a 20-8 professional record, which gives him more than twice as many professional fights as Smith. Smith, known as "Cobe," has taken several of his UFC bouts on short notice.

Brown looks to stop a skid

Brown, known as "Rudeboy," is on a two-fight losing streak, having dropped his first UFC main event to Gabriel Bonfim before losing most recently to Kevin Holland, a fighter Smith has repeatedly called out. Across his last seven appearances in the Octagon, Brown has gone 4-3.

The updated UFC Vegas 123 lineup is headlined by Renato Moicano against Tom Nolan, with Brown versus Smith now sitting directly beneath it. The card also features Ode' Osbourne vs. Cody Durden, Yana Santos vs. Luana Santos, Francis Marshall vs. Dakota Hope, Julian Erosa vs. JeongYeong Lee, Zach Reese vs. Mickey Gall and Talita Alencar vs. Piera Rodriguez, among other bouts.