A heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Shamil Abdurakhimov is close to being finalized for UFC 242.
A recent report from Farah Hannoun about the matchup was verified by Abdurakhimov on Instagram on Friday. He claims he has signed his part of the contract and is waiting for Blaydes to make it official.
The Russian has won his last three fights as well as five of his last six. His victims include Marcin Tybura, Andrei Arlovski and Walt Harris. As a result, he is currently ranked No. 10 in the rankings.
As for Blaydes, he recently bounced back from his second defeat to Francis Ngannou with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Justin Willis earlier this year. The Illinois native has won five of his last six bouts and is currently ranked No. 4 in the rankings. He also holds wins over Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt and Aleksei Oleinik.
UFC 242 takes place September 7 in Abu Dhabi and is expected to be headlined by a title unification clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. It is not official, however.
Here’s how the card is shaping up so far:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov
- Belal Muhammad vs. Takashi Sato
- Ottman Azaitar vs. Teemu Packalen
The post Curtis Blaydes vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov Nearly Finalized For UFC 242 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.