UFC 280 has lost a second bout. The featherweight showdown between Zubaira Tukhugov vs Lucas Almeida has been pulled from the Abu Dhabi card due to weight issues.
Before the official weigh-ins event, weight issues were already known, and this fight between a Brazilian and a Russian had been canceled before either hit the scales.
Aaron Bronster, of TSN, reported on Twitter:
“Looks like that’s a wrap. All fighters on weight with the exception of Katlyn Chookagian (127.5 lbs.) and the bout between Zubaira Tukhugov and Lucas Almeida has been cancelled due to weight cutting complications on the Tukhugov side.”
Zubaira Tukhugov vs Lucas Almeida cancelled
‘The Warrior’ Tukhugov is a training partner of Islam Makhachev who will be competing in the UFC 280 main event. Makhachev had no issue making weight. No other details are known regarding the weight cut other than that there were problems with ‘weight management’ on the side of Tukhugov.
This is Tukhugov’s second consecutive UFC fight to be canceled. In August, ‘The Warrior’ was forced to pull out of a fight against Nate Landwehr due to visa issues.
The Russian-born athlete first began competing in the UFC in 2014. Since then, he has earned a record of 5-2-1.
Brazil’s Lucas Almeida is 14-1 overall in MMA. He was a competitor in Jungle Fight and Dana White‘s Contender Series previous to his UFC 280 booking.
Earlier ahead of the cancellation, Almeida said on Instagram that fighting in Abu Dhabi at UFC 280 was a dream of his. He said:
“It was a very crazy dream that became a goal, I focused 100 percent on what I wanted, I often thought about giving up, to stop, but God gave me the word that I was going to succeed, I believed, and worked hard for it.”