The UFC have certainly been kept busy ahead of their inaugural event in Saudi Arabia.
The promotion head to the Kingdom for the first time this Saturday (June 22) with a Middleweight
The main event was originally scheduled to be number three ranked Robert Whittaker facing the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev but it was announced last week that Chimaev was forced to withdraw from the contest after falling extremely ill. In his place, Ikram Aliskerov will now face Whittaker in what is an huge opportunity for Russian in only his third fight under the UFC banner.
Now just days out from the card, the promotion have confirmed there have been another three changes to the card, with two bouts being pulled and a late change of opponent in a Featherweight contest.
Melsik Baghdasaryan has been ruled out of his contest with Muhammad Naimov, with former OKTAGON Bantamweight champion Felipe Lima stepping in on short notice. After a loss in his professional debut, Lima has been on a tear and currently finds himself unbeaten in 12. In his last outing, he claimed the OKTAGON Bantamweight title against Jonas Magard with a unanimous decision win. The two were set to meet once more on July 20 but when the UFC came calling, OKTAGON released Lima from his contract to compete in Saudi Arabia. Naimov is currently 3-0 in the UFC and is riding a 6 fight win streak.
Sedriques Dumas was ready to take a short notice fight against Denis Tiuliulin but due to Visa issues, Dumas has been forced to pull out of the Middleweight contest and because of this, the bout has been removed from the UFC Saudi Arabia card.
The final casualty of the week, thus far, sees the Bantamweight bout between Farid Basharat and Montel Jackson pulled from the card. Barsharat accepted the contest following the withdrawal of Said Nurmagomedov but has also picked up an injury in preparation for the bout.
The card now stands at 11 bouts, with the card set to start at 12pm ET/9am PT, while the main card kicks off on ABC at 3pm ET/12pm PT
