A middleweight title has been added to the UFC 294 card. Abu Azaitar will face Sedriques Dumas at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 21st.
The fight was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 221 in March. But that bout was cancelled after the Moroccan suffered a knee injury during training.
Azaitar (14-3-1) has a win and a loss from his previous two UFC fights. The injury prone Moroccan has only fought two times in the past six years.
Dumas (8-1) has fought twice since the first bout with Azaitar was cancelled. He also has a win and a loss from his two previous UFC fights and earned his spot on the promotion after impressing with Dana White’s Contender Series.
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Title rematch
UFC 294 will be the promotion’s first event in Abu Dhabi this year. The card will be headlined by a rematch with Islam Makhachev putting his lightweight title on the line against Charles Oliveira.
The two men first met at UFC 280 last year. Makhachev submitted Oliveira in the second round to win the lightweight title in Abu Dhabi, at the same venue which will host the rematch.
Makhachev would go on to beat Alex Volkanovski by decision at UFC 284 in Perth to defend the belt. He is the protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov who held the lightweight title himself and retired undefeated.
At UFC 289 last month Oliveira stopped Beneil Dariush in the opening round. The Brazilian holds the promotion’s record for most finishes, most submission and most bonuses.
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Middleweight debut
The card will also feature the middleweight debut of Khamzat Chimaev. Having missed weight by nearly 10lbs at UFC 280 he has moved up a division and will be taking on Paulo Costa.
Also in the middleweight division Nassourdine Imavov has been matched with Ikram Aliskerov. The former had been booked to fight Costa at UFC 291 but that fight was cancelled with both men facing different opponents in October instead.
Khamzat Chimaev taps out Kevin Holland in the first round.#UFC279 pic.twitter.com/9kWjh1Bn5k
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) September 11, 2022
Officially confirmed
The first to be officially confirmed for this card was a flyweight fight pitting Tim Elliott against Muhammad Mokaev. The latter was born in Dagestan but represents England having lived in the country since a young age.
He is no stranger to competing in the Middle East, this will be his fourth fight in the region. Mokaev was also on the UFC 280 card in Abu Dhabi last year and scored a submission win over Malcolm Gordon that night.
In his most recent fight the Englishman scored a submission win over Jafel Filho at UFC 286. Mokaev is currently ranked #11 and will be looking to crack the top ten with another win in Abu Dhabi.
In 2016 Elliot challenged for the UFC flyweight title. He dropped a decision to Johnson that night but has been on the UFC roster ever since and is coming off back to back decision wins.
UFC 294, Abu Dhabi, October 21st
Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira (For lightweight title)
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa (Middleweight)
Nassourdine Imavov vs. Nassourdine Imavov (Middleweight)
Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev (Flyweight)
Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas (Middleweight)
