With William Macario out, Ramazan Kuramagomedov will now face Matias Juarez at UAE Warriors 22

Ramazan Kuramagomedov will get a new opponent for his UAE Warriors debut.

William Macario has been forced out of next week’s UAE Warriors 22, and Matias Juarez (12-3-1) will step in on short notice to face Kuramagomedov (8-0) on Sept. 4 at Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Abu Dhabi. North American fans will be able to watch the event on The Fight Network.

A person with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Since failing to secure a UFC contract when he edged out Jordan Williams at Dana White’s Contender Series 21 in 2019, unbeaten Russian Kuramagomedov has scored back-to-back submissions over Melisbek Abdyrakhmanov and, most recently, Trevor Ollison at CFFC 85 in September 2020. Kuramagomedov was scheduled to face Alex Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 186 in February but withdrew due to illness.

Winner of three of his past four, Argentina’s Juarez is coming off a first-round submission of Jonathan Garcia at “Leon Fight: MMA Pro Edition” on Sunday. The 35-year-old has mostly fought in local promotions, including previous appearances in Dagestan-based Gorilla Fighting Championship and BRAVE CF.

With the change, the UAE Warriors 22 lineup now includes:

• Shawn Bunch vs. Rany Saadeh
• Matias Juarez vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov
• Corinne Laframboise vs. Elin Oberg