UFC on ESPN 34 news: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos withdraws from fight against Mounir Lazzez

UFC on ESPN 34 has lost a fun matchup.

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos(23-7 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has withdrawn from Saturday’s welterweight matchup against Mounir Lazzez (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex due to personal reasons. Lazzez is expected to remain on the card.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the news but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting was first to report the withdrawal.

Dos Santos rebounded from a split decision loss to Muslim Salikhov with a lopsided decision win over Benoit Saint-Denis this past October at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, Lazzez will look to return for the first time since suffering a TKO loss to Warlley Alves in January 2021. Prior to that, “The Sniper” scored an impressive win over Abdul Razak Alhassan in his UFC debut in July 2020 on “Fight Island.” Lazzez was scheduled to face Niklas Stolze this past July, but visa issues forced him out of the bout.

With the change, the UFC on ESPN 34 lineup now includes:

• Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
• Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
• Mounir Lazzez vs. TBA
• Brandon Jenkins vs. Drakkar Klose
• Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson
• Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
• Pannie Kianzad vs. Lina Lansberg
• TJ Laramie vs. Pat Sabatini
• Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Wu Yanan
• Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden
• Sam Hughes vs. Istela Nunes
• Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho
• Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom
• Devin Clark vs. William Knight