Kyoji Horiguchi will not return to the UFC in June after all.
The Japanese star and the UFC flywheel weight title challenger originally had to compete UFC Baku on June 21 while the promotion lands for the first time in Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, Horiguchi is no longer supposed to compete on the map after being withdrawn from his fight against Tagir Ulanbekov for unknown reasons.
In its place, Azat Maksum, who accepts the fight with Ulanbekov in a short time, the fight taking place in four weeks.
Several people knowing the promotion plans confirmed the news to MMA fights on MMA on MMA following a first MMA Red Corner report.
It is an unfortunate delay for Horiguchi, and probably a disappointing switch for Ulanbekov, while the veteran of fly weights trained under Khabib Nurmagomedov against an important struggle for division.
Instead, Ulanbekov draws Maksum, who enters the fight with a 1-1 file in the UFC, including a victory against Tyson Nam and a defeat against Charles Johnson.
The fight is Ulanbekov’s opportunity to win a fourth consecutive victory in total after having released Clayton Carpenter, Cody Durden and Nate Maness in consecutive fights.
The UFC Baku card takes place on June 21 with the former heavyweight champion Light Jamahal Hill by facing Khalil Routree Jr. in the main event.
Mike Heck contributed to this report