Background
This event marked the promotion's debut in Qatar, which became the third country in the Middle East to host it, after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. [2] There were initially rumors that the first event in the country would take place on May 17 at UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Morales, but that card was moved to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for unknown reasons. [3]
The event headliner featured a lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker. [4]
A heavyweight bout between Serghei Spivac and Shamil Gaziev was scheduled for this event. [5] The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Morales, [6] then shifted to UFC 316. However, Gaziev withdrew from that event due to a broken finger sustained during training. [7] [8] In turn, Spivac withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons and was replaced by former LFA Heavyweight Champion Waldo Cortes-Acosta. [9]
A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Championship challenger Paulo Costa and Sharabutdin Magomedov was expected to take place at this event. [10] However, Magomedov withdrew due to undergoing nose surgery, and the bout was removed from the card. [11] [12]
A heavyweight bout between promotional newcomers Marek Bujło and José Luiz was initially scheduled for the event. [13] However, Luiz was later replaced for undisclosed reasons by current LFA Heavyweight Champion Denzel Freeman, who also made his promotional debut. [14]
A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Kyoji Horiguchi (who is also a former one-time RIZIN flyweight and two-time bantamweight champion, as well as a former Bellator bantamweight world champion) and Tagir Ulanbekov took place at this event. [15] The pairing was initially expected to meet at UFC on ABC: Hill vs. Rountree Jr. in June, but Horiguchi withdrew for undisclosed reasons. [16] [17]
A light heavyweight bout between former KSW and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Błachowicz and Bogdan Guskov was scheduled for this event. [18] However, the pairing was moved to UFC 323 for unknown reasons. [19]
A featherweight bout between Muhammad Naimov and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko featherweight winner Mairon Santos was originally scheduled for this event. [20] However, for undisclosed reasons, the matchup was rescheduled to take place two weeks later at UFC 323. [21]
A bantamweight bout between Felipe Lima and Daniel Marcos was scheduled for this event. [22] However, Lima withdrew for undisclosed reasons, and Marcos was instead rescheduled to face a new opponent two weeks earlier at UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs. Brown. [23]
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