One of Europe’s most talented flyweight prospects is all set for his UFC debut.
Aleksander Doskalchuk has been forced out of the UFC’s July 18 event due to undisclosed reasons and Amir Albazi (12-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step in and face Malcolm Gordon (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the news to MMA Junkie on Friday after Albazi posted about the fight on his Instagram page. The UFC subsequently made the new booking official.
London Shootfighters’ Albazi has competed all across Europe and the Middle East. After notching back-to-back wins over Jamie Powell and Iuri Bejenari in Bellator, Albazi suffered his first career loss to ex-UFC flyweight Jose Torres at BRAVE CF 23 in April 2019. He then rebounded with a first-round submission win over Ryan Curtis this past November at BRAVE CF 29.
Gordon, TKO’s flyweight champion, has won four in a row and is coming off a first-round submission of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 24 alum Yoni Sherbatov in April 2019.
With the change, the current July 18 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (9 p.m. ET)
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez – for vacant flyweight title
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Jack Hermansson
- Marc Diakiese vs. Rafael Fiziev
- Luana Carolina vs. Ariane Lipski
- Askar Askarov vs. Alexandre Pantoja
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 p.m. ET)
- Roman Dolidze vs. Khadis Ibragimov
- Grant Dawson vs. Nad Narimani
- Joel Alvarez vs. Joe Duffy
- Montel Jackson vs. Brett Johns
- Amir Albazi vs. Malcolm Gordon
- Davi Ramos vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Carlos Felipe vs. Serghei Spivac
Amir Albazi steps in to face Malcolm Gordon at UFC's July 18 event in Abu Dhabi
