Krause Steps In To Face Silva On Oct. 17 on ‘Fight Island’

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Muslim Salikhov has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Claudio Silva — which was set to go down on Oct. 17, 2020 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — for undisclosed reasons.

According to MMA Fighting, longtime veteran James Krause will step in on two weeks’ notice to face the Brazilian bomber on “Fight Island.”

Krause is no stranger to stepping in on short notice to fill the void, which is exactly what he did in his last fight at UFC 247 this past February. After Antonio Arroyo was forced out of his fight against Trevin Giles, Krause agreed to take the Middleweight bout with one day to go before fight night. Despite his best efforts, Krause came up short on the judges scorecards.

Afterward, Krause and his team filed an appeal for the decision based on the grounds of conflict of interest, stating that one of the judges was an acquaintances with one of Giles’ cornermen.

Prior to the loss, Krause had won six in a row in the Welterweight division. Silva, meanwhile, has won 14 straight fights, including five in a row inside the Octagon, with his last three coming via submission.

The “Fight Night” event will feature a highly-anticipated Featherweight fight between former title contenders Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung.