Reports broke on Tuesday afternoon that Movsar Evloev was out of his main event fight with Bryce Mitchell. The two were set to meet on November 5th at the Apex.
The UFC are yet to confirm the news. But, multiple sources are reporting that Evloev injured himself whilst training. After hearing the news, number 12 ranked Sodiq Yusuff was quick to throw his name in the mix to replace the Russian.
The Nigerian secured his second win of the year last Saturday at UFC Vegas 61. A thirty second submission victory against Don Shainis. It was arguably the most impressive performance of his career.
Given the fight’s duration, the 20-year-old remains fresh and ready for a potential short-notice fight.
“It’s definitely not gonna be me.”
With Bryce ranked just three places ahead of Sodiq, the fight made sense. However, we can now confirm that the this fight will not be happening. In an interview with us at Combat Sports UK, Sodiq told us: “yesterday was the day they were supposed to finalise it, so I don’t think it’s happening. It’s definitely not gonna be me.”
With this now confirmed, we can assume it will be Ilia Topuria who will step in against Mitchell. The Georgian was set to take on Edson Barboza just a week earlier. However, Barboza has also withdrawn from his bout. Leaving the two featherweights set to clash on November 5th.
Topuria sits at 14th in the rankings and remains undefeated at 12-0. Similarly to Mitchell who’s record sits slightly better at 15-0. The UFC are yet to confirm this fight but with Sodiq confirming it will not be him, it would seem only likely.
What do you make of this news? Which fight would make more sense? Bryce Mitchell v Ilia Topuria or Sodiq Yusuff? Let us know!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
