Ryan Benoit medically cleared for flyweight return; Zarrukh Adashev fight rebooked for UFC on ESPN 27
Ryan Benoit will get another crack at flyweight after his most recent fight was canceled on weigh-in day because of a health concern.
Benoit (10-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) and Zarrukh Adashev (3-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC), who were originally paired up for a May 8 battle, have been rebooked to fight July 31 at UFC on ESPN 27, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The bout will take place at flyweight.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Monday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Though Adashev made weight for their originally booked matchup, Benoit struggled to stand upright while weighing in. Visibly shaken and staggering, Benoit required assistance from the UFC and commission officials on site. After multiple attempts to register a weight, Benoit weighed 129 pounds. He did not receive medical clearance and the bout was called off before the faceoffs.
In order to receive clearance to attempt another flyweight weight cut, Benoit was required to travel to Las Vegas where the UFC medical staff ran him through a number of tests. He also enrolled in an athlete meal program.
“After a week of testing with a few different specialists at the UFC PI, they gave me the green light to remain at flyweight,” Benoit told MMA Junkie in a statement Monday. “We have a full plan in place to attack this next weight cut and training camp. I’m very confident in the plan we have in place, and I will remain in contact with the PI staff for the coming weeks. Big thanks to ICON Meals for setting me up with a customized diet plan to make the process even easier. I’m excited to get back in the cage and score a KO.”
It was a scary scene for Ryan Benoit at weigh-ins.
He had to be guided to the scale on multiple attempts before missing weight by 3 pounds.
His #UFCVegas26 fight with Zarrukh Adashev is OFF.
Full story: https://t.co/NQ3IXGpeGj pic.twitter.com/svAHZTOuOe
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) May 7, 2021
Benoit, 31, enters the fight on a two-fight losing skid. Meanwhile, Adashev looks to pick up his first UFC win in his third promotional attempt. Adashev was originally expected to Juancamilo Ronderos before Benoit stepped in.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 27 lineup includes:
- Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland
- Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Ashley Yoder
- Rafa Garcia vs. Chris Gruetzemacher
- Collin Anglin vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
- Orion Cosce vs. Phillip Rowe
- Cheyanne Buys vs. Gloria de Paula
- Mounir Lazzez vs. Niklas Stolze
- Kyung Ho Kang vs. Rani Yahya
- Dooho Choi vs. Danny Chavez
- Askar Askarov vs. Alex Perez
- Nicco Montano vs. Yanan Wu
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
