UFC 262 loses Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan; bout pushed back one week

Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan is still on the schedule but won’t take place at UFC 262.

The middleweight fight, originally on the books for Saturday’s pay-per-view main card in Houston, will now take place one week later, at UFC Fight Night 188 on May 22. The event is scheduled to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Shahbazyan (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) confirmed the postponement Monday on Twitter after an initial report from MMA DNA. No reason for the change was given (via Twitter):

I guess we wait another week… May 22 here we come! Back to Vegas!

— The Golden Boy (@edmenshahbazyan) May 10, 2021

The exact reasoning for the postponement is unknown at this time.

Hermansson (21-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has won five of his most recent seven bouts but has lost two of his most recent three. He last competed at UFC on ESPN 19 in December, when he lost a unanimous decision to Marvin Vettori in the card’s headliner.

Shahbazyan is also coming off a loss – the first of his professional career. He was finished with strikes by Derek Brunson in the UFC Fight Night 173 main event in August. All but one of Shahbazyan’s professional victories have come by finish.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 188 lineup now includes:

• Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt
• Carla Esparza vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Justin Tafa vs. Jared Vanderaa
• Norma Dumont vs. Felicia Spencer
• David Dvorak vs. Raulian Paiva
• Bill Algeo vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Court McGee vs. Claudio Silva
• Victor Rodriguez vs. Bruno Silva
• Josh Culibao vs. Yilan Sha
• Damir Hadzovic vs. Yancy Medeiros
• Rafael Alves vs. Damir Ismagulov
• Sarah Alpar vs. Stephanie Egger
• Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan