Injuries, visa issues shake up UFC 277 preliminary lineup

The lineup for the next Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view is practically changing day by day.

On Thursday night, BJPenn.com reported that Ramiz Brahimaj (10-4) had been forced out of his welterweight scrap with Michael Morales (13-0) on UFC 277. Per Brahimaj on his Instagram on Friday, he suffered an injury that will keep him out of action for the foreseeable future. A replacement has not yet been found, but the UFC is looking for someone to step in. This follows the news on Wednesday where Diego Ferreira – the teammate of Brahimaj – and Mariya Agapova withdrew from this July 30 event.

“Breaks my heart to have to confirm that I am off UFC Dallas due to an injury,” Brahimaj wrote. “Unfortunately these injuries can happen during fight prep. I will rehab, and come back stronger. Thank you to Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard, Dana White, and the phenomenal medical/sports medicine team that is helping me to get back to 100 percent [of Heather Linden and Clint Wattenberg from the UFC Performance Institute]. Thank you for the continued love and support see you very soon.”

Brahimaj was looking to break an alternating win-loss pattern that dates back to 2018, across nine fights and including his full UFC tenure. The Fortis MMA product made his debut in 2020, only to bow out against Max Griffin due to a doctor stoppage when his ear split in half from Griffin’s elbows. Since then, he has won two of three, with submissions of Sasha Palatnikov and Micheal Gillmore to his credit, and he still maintains a 100% submission rate as a pro.

The unbeaten Morales will hope to remain on the event and try to lift his spotless record to 14-0 against a short-notice adversary. The 22-year-old picked up a contract on the 2021 season of Dana White's Contender Series by taking a decision over Nikolay Veretennikov, and he made good on that by debuting in January and knocking out Trevin Giles in the first round. While his finish rate is not as high as his former foe’s, the Ecuador native does celebrate 85% of his victories by stoppage.

Additionally, news broke on Thursday night that Drakkar Klose (12-2-1) has a new opponent, following Ferreira’s injury reported on Wednesday. The news first coming from reporter Alex Behunin on Twitter, Klose will now be facing Rafa Garcia (13-2) in an exciting lightweight clash. Both Klose and Garcia confirmed this on their respective Instagram pages.

The two fighters, each with 15 pro bouts of experience, present drastically different styles. Klose has never before registered a submission – and never been submitted, as well – while Garcia’s preferred method of victory is by tapout. Klose bounced back from a thrilling knockout loss to Beneil Dariush in 2020 by knocking out Brandon Jenkins in April. On the other hand, Garcia has won two straight, most recently on the same event as Klose-Jenkins, where he hit a rear-naked choke on Jesse Ronson.

ESPN Deportes announced late Thursday night that Ignacio Bahamondes (13-4) would no longer be competing at UFC 277 as well, as the fighter is reportedly in Chile and suffering from visa issues that will not allow him to fight in the U.S. His foe, Ludovit Klein (18-4), has been shifted from that event to the UFC London event one week prior. The lightweight will take on Mason Jones (11-1) at UFC Fight Night 208 on July 23.

UFC 277 will go down at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on July 30 with two belts on the line in the main card. Headlining the show will be a high-stakes rematch between champion Julianna Pena and ex-135-pound queen Amanda Nunes. The other championship affair sees Brandon Moreno take on Kai Kara France for the interim flyweight strap. The featured fight on the card comes at heavyweight, when Texas mainstay Derrick Lewis squares off with Russia’s Sergei Pavlovich.