Azamat Murzakanov now faces Brendson Ribeiro at UFC 316 after Brazilian gentle heavyweight Johnny Walker was pressured off the June 7 pay-per-view occasion in Newark, N.J., MMA Combating confirmed following a report from Super Lutas.
It’s nonetheless unclear what led to Walker’s removing from the bout.
Murzakanov (14-0) seems to increase his UFC profitable streak to 5 in New Jersey. He hasn’t fought since a bonus-winning knockout over Alonzo Menifield in August 2024, his second $50,000 award within the firm. The Courageous CF openweight grand prix winner has additionally scored UFC stoppages towards Tafon Nchukwi and Devin Clark.
Former Shooto Brazil champion Ribeiro (17-7, 1 no contest) had his again towards the wall after a 0-2 begin within the promotion versus Zhang Mingyang and Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, however turned issues round with a lackluster resolution over Caio Machado and a second-round kimura win towards beforehand unbeaten Diyar Nurgozhay.
UFC 316 happen at Prudential Heart and options males’s bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili defending his title in a most important occasion rematch with Sean O’Malley. Julianna Peña co-headlines the present, placing the ladies’s 135-pound belt on the road towards two-time PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.
Mike Heck contributed to this report.
