UFC 280 Fighter Ripped From Abu Dhabi Line Up, Cut By Promotion

Yamato Nishikawa will no longer be fighting Magomed Mustafaev on the UFC 280 preliminary card this Sat. (Oct. 22, 2022) at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. In fact, the 19 year-old welterweight won’t be fighting for UFC at all, having drawn his release earlier this week before setting foot inside the world-famous Octagon.

So what happened?

According to this report, the 21-3-6 Nishikawa is still under contract with Shooto, marking the second time UFC has run into this problem within the last month. Ares FC heavyweight champion Slim Trablesi was also signed and booked for UFC 280, only to be released 24 hours later as a result of contractual issues with both Ares FC and MMA Factory.

Mustafaev will not remain in the lineup and is expected to return later this year; however, With two other welterweight matchups on the UFC 280 fight card — Sean Brady vs. Belal Muhammad and Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev — it’s not unreasonable to think Mustafaev will be kept on standby in case of emergency.

As of this writing, all duffel bags (and their starchy contents) are present and accounted for.

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