One of MMA’s top prospects will make his UFC debut on short notice after a fighter withdrew from UFC 311 just days before the event.
The UFC finally returned last weekend with UFC Fight Night: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2, which kicked off a stretch of 11 events in 12 weeks to open the promotion’s 2025 schedule.
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A stacked UFC 311 Pay-Per-View event featuring two title bouts is set to go down this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, CA, but on Monday of fight week the card took a hit when Sedriques Dumas was forced withdraw from a middleweight matchup with dangerous finisher Zach Reese.
Finding a replacement fighter for a high-profile opportunity on less than a week’s notice is never easy, but a report from @zaclikesmma of the “4oz to Freedom” podcast indicates that LFA Middleweight Champion Azamat Bekoev has agreed to step in and face Reese at UFC 311.
Currently on a six-fight win streak, Bekoev claimed the LFA’s interim middleweight belt in a bout with current UFC fighter Dylan Budka in June 2023 before taking a unanimous decision against Lucas Fernando in a title unification bout six months later.
“King Pin” defended his LFA title with a second-round knockout against Chauncey Foxworth in his only appearance of 2024, and the 29-year-old likely would have had the chance to fight for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series this summer had this opportunity at UFC 311 not presented itself.
Bekoev actually has more than twice as many pro fights as Reese, but “Savage” is also riding the momentum of back-to-back Octagon victories and had never even gone past the second round as a professional prior to his most recent win against José Medina.
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-Barring any other fight week cancellations, UFC 311 boasts a total of 14 bouts and will feature a bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event before Arman Tsarukyan attempts to unseat Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev in the card’s headlining fight.
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