UFC’s quickly approaching February 26th “Fight Night” card has received a major change recently.
An injury has reportedly forced Beneil Dariush out of his main event fight against Islam Makhachev, as first reported by Ariel Helwani. UFC is now working to get Bobby Green as a replacement opponent for Makhachev, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
The specific weight class for the fight between Dariush and Green has not been determined yet. Should the fight be made official, it would headline a card that is scheduled to take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
This change could put Green back into the cage only weeks after his last appearance. The veteran most recently fought at UFC 271 on February 12th, defeating Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision on that card.
Green has a tough challenge ahead of him. Makhachev is currently on a nine-fight winning streak in the UFC and has only lost once through 22 pro fights.
Makhachev won his first UFC main event fight last year, submitting Thiago Moises in the fourth round of a bout. He has competed oncemore since then, submitting short-notice opponent Dan Hooker at UFC 267 in October 2021.
The recent change continues a string of bad luck for the UFC, as two main events have had to be fixed on short-notice recently.
It was reported just last week that a February 19th main event between Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev had to be moved to a later date due to visa issues.
UFC’s new main event for UFC’s February 19th show is a light heavyweight bout between Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill.
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