The UFC is actively looking for a replacement opponent for Nurmagomedov, who hasn’t competed in a year.
UFC 308 goes down this weekend (Sat. October 26th) from Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. and as usual we’re seeing a rash of last-minute withdrawals from the card.
So far the main pay-per-view portion of the card has remained unaffected, with the last change coming a month ago: Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov was moved to UFC 310 due to a Volkov injury. But we’re now up to three prelim changes, including the potential loss of Said Nurmagomedov from the card.
Damon Martin was first to reveal that Said (who shares the same last name but no relation to Khabib Nurmagomedov) had lost his opponent Daniel Santos for undisclosed reasons. There are reports that an injury had affected Santos’ ability to cut weight and his team had requested a catchweight for the fight — which Team Nurmagomedov refused. We are still awaiting a response from direct sources to confirm.
The UFC is actively looking to replace Santos and keep Nurmagomedov on the card, but finding a bantamweight fighter who is capable of hitting weight on four days notice can be tricky.
There’s certainly no shortage of fighters stepping up on social media to ask for the fight. Flyweight Charles “InnerG” Johnson just won a fight against “Tibetan Eagle” Sumudaerji at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night: Pereira vs. Hernandez event. He sent a message directly to UFC matchmakers requesting the gig.
I want to do great things in this life. I like the fight
Said Nurmogamedov is great.
So am I ??? @danawhite @seanshelby @Mickmaynard2 ?? call me pic.twitter.com/aUXz3p3OBZ— Charles “InnerG” Johnson (@innerGmma_ufc) October 21, 2024
“I want to do great things in this life,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I like the fight. Said Nurmagomedov is great. So am I.”
We’re also seeing more pushes from fighters outside the UFC attempting to jump into the big leagues. ARES bantamweight champion Aboubakar Younousov and Spanish bantamweight Hecher Sosa both have fans campaigning to win the Said Nurmagomedov sweepstakes.
Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought since the last annual Abu Dhabi PPV and was forced to withdraw from a June battle with Montel Jackson due to injury. He’s withdrawn from bouts four times in his six year tenure with the UFC, derailing an otherwise impressive 7-2 run with the promotion.
Here’s hoping the UFC finds someone to fight him on October 26th at UFC 308.