Islam Makhachev won’t be fighting this month.
The UFC was unable to find the lightweight competitor a short-notice replacement opponent for UFC 254 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Yahoo Sports broke the news Thursday.
Makhachev (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was scheduled to fight former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but last week the Brazilian was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Makhachev last fought in September 2019 at UFC 242 where he outpointed Davi Ramos. The American Kickboxing Academy product is currently on a six-fight winning streak. His lone defeat came in 2015 to Adriano Martins.
Makhachev is ranked No. 12 in the UFC’s official lightweight rankings.
Below is the updated UFC 254 lineup:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje
- Jared Cannonier vs. Robert Whittaker
- Walt Harris vs. Alexander Volkov
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
- Phil Hawes vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Stefan Struve vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Alex Oliveira vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Sam Alvey vs. Da Un Jung
- Liana Jojua vs. Miranda Maverick
- Casey Kenney vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Sergey Morozov vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Joel Alvarez vs. Alexander Yakovlev
With Rafael dos Anjos out, Islam Makhachev won’t compete at UFC 254