The teetering Jenga tower that is UFC Vegas 33 continues to fall apart.
UFC Vegas 33’s lineup continues to topple like dominoes after Mounir Lazzez vs. Niklas Stolze just got canned from the ESPN/ESPN+ card this weekend (Sat., July 31, 2021).
Lazzez vs. Stolze was supposed to serve as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 33 (see the poster), headlined by Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland and taking place inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unfortunately, Lazzez was forced out of the fight because of visa issues, according to Stolze.
Jared Gooden will step in on short notice to fight Stolze, according to a report by MMA Junkie. It’s unclear at this time if Stolze will remain in the co-main event opposite Gooden or if UFC will shuffle the deck once more.
Another hit for #UFCVegas33, the new co-main event of Lazzez-Stolze is off. Lazzez has visa issues (shouldn’t he have been in Vegas by now?) and Stolze will remain on the card against an unnamed replacement, per Stolze’s Instagram. pic.twitter.com/mFfUtAXdkP
— Jay Pettry (@jaypettry) July 27, 2021
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus and Sam Alvey vs. Roman Kopylov were also pulled from the card in the last 24 hours.
Outside of the main event and this new match up, UFC Vegas 33’s less-than-stacked main card currently boasts Cheyanne Buys vs. Gloria de Paula, Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit, Kyung Ho Kang vs. Rani Yahya and Bryan Barberena vs. Jason Witt. The mainline ESPN card runs opposite Bellator 263, which is headlined by a Bellator Featherweight title match pitting Patricio Pitbull vs. A.J. McKee to crown the winner of the $1 million Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 33 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here and here. For the revised UFC Vegas 33 fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ line up click here.
Finished reading this story? The party doesn’t have to stop. Click here to get more of the latest UFC news.