Khabib will coach one less fighter at UFC 280.
UFC 280 will have one less bout on its fight card.
Just moments before the early and official weigh ins in Abu Dhabi, the UFC announced that the featherweight bout between Zubaira Tukhugov and Lucas Almeida has been cancelled due to “weight management issues.”
The weight issue is reportedly on Tukhugov’s side, who previously missed weight in a 2020 bout as well. Tukhugov is a teammate of headliner Islam Makhachev, and the cancellation means the former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will be cornering one less fighter at UFC 280.
The bout was supposed to happen in the prelim portion of the event, which now drops the total fights at UFC 280 to 12.
One other fighter missed weight on the UFC 280 line up, but the bout will push through as scheduled.
The final fight card for UFC 280 is as follows:
Main card (4 p.m. on ESPN)
Lightweight championship: Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev
Bantamweight championship: Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley
Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Manon Fiorot
Prelim card (11 a.m. on ESPN+)
Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady
Makhmud Muradov vs. Caio Borralho
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Nikita Krylov
Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
Armen Petrosyan vs. AJ Dobson
Malcolm Gordon vs. Muhammad Mokaev
Karol Rosa vs. Lina Lansberg