On Friday (June 14, 2024), MMA reporter Marcel Dorff announced that the upcoming Bantamweight showdown between Farid Basharat and Montel Jackson has been scrapped from next week’s UFC Saudi Arabia card, which is set to take place in Kingdom Arena.
Got told the fight between Farid Basharat and Montel Jackson is OFF te #UFCSaudiArabia card. UFC searching for a replacement to keep Jackson on the card.
Basharat was already a replacement on this card. Montel Jackson was originally booked against Said Nurmagomedov.
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) June 14, 2024
Jackson (13-2) has had horrible luck for several months. He was supposed to finally get a Top 15 Bantamweight matchup last October against Chris Guiterrez; however, he had to withdraw from the fight due to an injury. “Quik” would next be matched against Said Nurmagomedov at the inaugural Saudi Arabia event, but Nurmagomedov pulled out last month. Basharat agreed to step in, and now he’s out.
Jackson is riding a four-fight win streak and is coming off a first-round finish against Rani Yahya.
Basharat (12-0) has been perfect thus far in the UFC, going 3-0 with wins over Taylor Lapilus, Kleydson Rodrigues, and Da’Mon Blackshear.
The full UFC Saudi Arabia fight card can be seen below
- 185 lbs.: Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- 265 lbs.: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
- 170 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- 205 lbs.: Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- 205 lbs.: Shara Magomedov vs. Joilton Lutterbach
- 155 lbs.: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
- 135 lbs.: Kyung Ho Kang vs. Muin Gafurov
- 170 lbs.: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby
- 205 lbs.: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- 145 lbs.: Muhammad Naimov vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
- 185 lbs.: Abu Azaitar vs. Denis Tiuliulin
- 135 lbs.: Xiao Long vs. Chang Ho Lee