Idman.biz
Apparently, a replacement has been quickly found for the Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev fight, which will not take place at the UFC Baku tournament.
Idman.Biz reports that MMA insider Steve Duncan announced on social media that the fight between Kaan Ofli and Xavier Reyes has been added to the card of the "UFC Fight Night Baku" tournament.
The fight will take place in the featherweight division. Ofli represents Australia but has Turkish roots. The 32-year-old fighter was born in Melbourne and competes in the UFC under the nickname "Genghis." His opponent, Xavier Reyes, represents Colombia.
It was previously announced that Marvin Vettori had withdrawn from the Baku tournament card due to injury. The Italian fighter was supposed to face Ismail Naurdiev in the middleweight division. However, he will not be able to participate in the tournament on June 27 due to a rib injury sustained during training.
However, the UFC has not yet officially announced whether Naurdiev will remain on the card with a new opponent or whether the fight will be postponed. It is possible that the American promotion will move the Naurdiev vs. Vettori fight to one of the next tournaments.
The "UFC Fight Night Baku" tournament will be held on June 27 at the National Gymnastics Arena. The main event of the night will be the lightweight fight between Rafael Fiziev and Manuel Torres.
Preliminary card fights
Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev (Azerbaijan) - Manuel Torres (Mexico)
Middleweight: Sharabutdin Magomedov (Russia) - Michel Pereira (Brazil)
Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov (Russia) - Bruno Ferreira (Brazil)
Flyweight: Asu Almabayev (Kazakhstan) - Charles Johnson (USA)
Middleweight: Michal Oleksiejczuk (Poland) - Abusupiyan Magomedov (Germany)
Middleweight: Ismail Naurdiev (Austria) - opponent to be determined
Preliminary Program
Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev (Russia) - Tyrell Fortune (USA)
Middleweight: Nursulton Ruziboev (Uzbekistan) - Andrey Pulyaev (Russia)
Light Heavyweight: Julius Walker (USA) - Abdul-Rahman Yakhyaev (Turkey)
Lightweight: Bekzat Almakhan (Kazakhstan) - Jean Matsumoto (Brazil)
Welterweight: Daniil Donchenko (Ukraine) - Andreas Gustafsson (Sweden)
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov (Azerbaijan) - Mateus Camilo (Brazil)
Welterweight: Farman Hasanov (Azerbaijan) - Eric Nolan (USA)
Featherweight: Kaan Ofli (Australia) - Xavier Reyes (Colombia)
We add that the final order of the fights may change closer to the tournament.
