Two fighters drop out of UFC 'Fight Island' event on July 25
The UFC’s July 25 event has taken multiple hits.
Both Danny Roberts and Shavkat Rakhmonov are out of their respective bouts, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Reasons for both Roberts and Rakhmonov withdrawing were not disclosed. No replacement has been found for either of their opponents, Nicolas Dalby and Ramazan Emeev.
Roberts (17-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC), who snapped a two-fight losing streak with a knockout over Zelim Imadaev last November, originally was slated to face Dalby on March 21 in London, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fight was rebooked for the July 25 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, but Roberts has been forced to withdraw.
Rakhmonov (12-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will have to wait once again to make his UFC debut. He was initially scheduled to face Bartosz Fabinski on March 21 in London before the event was canceled. The undefeated Kazakhstani fighter was then matched up with Emeev on July 25 but has been forced out.
With the changes, the current July 25 lineup includes:
- Darren Till vs. Robert Whittaker
- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua
- Alex Oliviera vs. Peter Sobotta
- Alexander Gustafsson vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Nicholas Dalby vs. opponent TBA
- Tom Aspinall vs. Jake Collier
- Raphael Pessoa vs. Justin Tafa
- Movsar Evloev vs. Mike Grundy
- Bethe Correia vs. Pannie Kianzad
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Ramazan Emeev vs. opponent TBA
- Jai Herbert vs. Francisco Trinaldo