UFC 280 is down to 12 fights after the scratch of a featherweight bout between Zubaira Tukhugov and Lucas Almeida.
Before the official weigh-ins on Friday morning in Abu Dhabi, the UFC announced that the matchup had been pulled from Saturday’s pay-per-view card due to “weight management issues.”
UFC 280 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a pair of title fights: ex-champ Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev face off for the vacant lightweight belt, and bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling defends his belt against ex-champ T.J. Dillashaw.
Tukhugov, a training partner of Makhachev and teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov, hoped to put his second straight win on the board after a decision over Ricardo Ramos in his previous octagon appearance one year ago at UFC 267. His current UFC record stands at 5-2-1.
Almeida, meanwhile, was set to make his second UFC appearance after defeating The Ultimate Fighter 27 winner Mike Trizano at UFC Vegas 56. His record stands at 14-1.