Brunno Ferreira needs a new opponent for UFC Vegas 96 after Roman Kopylov withdrew from the Aug. 24 card after having appendicitis surgery, multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting. Ferreira first announced the news on social media.
Kopylov is expected to be out of action until the latter part of the year after recovering from the surgery.
UFC has yet to officially announce Kopylov’s withdrawal or a potential replacement to face Ferreira at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The Brazilian middleweight told Sherdog that Abdul Razak Alhassan could step in as a replacement.
“My fight with Roman Kopylov is off, to many people’s delight,” Ferreira said on a video posted on Instagram. “When I say that Russians don’t want to fight me, that’s the absolute truth. This is the second time already. If they’re so good in grappling, why won’t they fight me?
“Shara [Magomedov] only fights on the feet, and now Roman Kopylov is the same thing. They only fight on the feet and they know I’m trouble on the ground and have knockout power too.”
Ferreira, 12-1 as a professional, scored back-to-back bonus-winning stoppages over Phil Hawes and Dustin Stoltzfus in 2024 to boost his UFC record to 3-1. All of his promotional wins have come via first-round knockouts. “Hulk” was scheduled to face Alhassan in 2023 but Alhassan ultimately withdrew from the bout.
Damon Martin contributed to this report
