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Melsik Baghdasaryan won’t be fighting this weekend.
The featherweight competitor announced on his social media that he has been forced to withdraw from his fight against Muhammad Naimov, which was set to take place on the main card of UFC Saudi Arabia this Saturday in Riyadh.
According to Baghdasaryan, he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Watch his Instagram Stories announcement below (archived by Eurosport).
The news of Baghdasaryan’s withdrawal was first reported by MMA reporter Robert Tellez.
Baghdasaryan hasn’t had much luck making it to fight night in 2024. He has now missed out on three bookings this year, with fights against Hyder Amil and William Gomis also falling through. He has won three of his first four UFC fights, most recently defeating Tucker Lutz by unanimous decision in July 2023.
On Tuesday, the UFC announced that Baghdasaryan will be replaced by newcomer Felipe Lima (12-1). Eurosport was first to report the new matchup.
Lima most recently fought at an Oktagon MMA show in July 2023. He scored a unanimous decision over Jonas Magard to earn a bantamweight title and win his 12th straight fight since losing his pro debut.
Oktagon MMA issued a statement on social media stating that they released Lima from his contract, per existing terms, and wished him the best in his UFC debut.
As per the terms of his long term contract alongside the good relations we have with him, today we released bantamweight champion, Felipe Lima, to fight at the upcoming UFC event in Abu Dhabi. We wish him good luck.
We will keep you informed about the future of the OKTAGON MMA…
— OKTAGON MMA (@OktagonOfficial) June 17, 2024
Saturday’s UFC Saudi Arabia card has already seen one major shakeup. The main event was to feature former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker taking on the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, but Chimaev was forced to withdraw due to illness and has been replaced by Ikram Aliskerov.
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