The UFC will hold its first event ever in Saudi Arabia on June 22. The Kingdom, of course, has been hard at work, trying to make itself a sports tourism hub of the world. Over the past few years, the Saudi government has poured in immense amounts of money to make the biggest boxing matches there, including a heavyweight unification bout (after two decades) in May.

And now it seems Turki Alalshikh (the Chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority) and the Saudis have set their sights on MMA. After hosting the first PFL vs. Bellator card in February, it is now the UFC’s turn, as the world’s largest MMA promotion will make its debut in the Kingdom with a Fight Night card on June 22. However, the card has been hit with snags and pullouts since the initial lineup was announced.

Two-time promotion champion Felipe Lima will make his UFC debut on Saudi card

UFC CEO Dana White had promised to make its inaugural Saudi card “the greatest Fight Night card ever”. And when it was announced that Khamzat Chimaev, one of the biggest stars in the promotion, would be the headliner of the card, the UFC CEO seemed well on his way to delivering on the promise.

However, with ‘Borz’ pulling out of his bout against Robert Whittaker due to a ‘violent illness, the promotion scrambled to replace him, first approaching middleweight phenom Bo Nickal. However, the two-time D1 wrestling champ could not be contacted since he was out camping in the mountains. Finally, the promotion managed to secure promising middleweight prospect Ikram Aliskerov as a replacement for Chimaev. And now, There has been another pull-out that Dana White and co. have dealt with promptly.

Unranked UFC 145-pounder Muhammad Naimov was scheduled to face the young Armenian prospect Melsik Baghdasaryan in a featherweight bout on the main card of the UFC inaugural Saudi event on June 22. However, Baghdasaryan announced that he had to pull out of the bout due to a storm labrum. This is the Armenian’s third canceled fight this year.

Instead, the UFC has roped in OKMMA bantamweight champion Felipe Lima as replacement for the injured Armenian. Lima comes from a championship pedigree and is not only the OKMMA champ but also a former FCR 145-pound champion.

‘Borz”s manager clears the air on his rumored retirement plans

After Khamzat Chimaev pulled out of the Fight Night card due to being hospitalized, there were speculations that the Chechen may be looking to retire. This is because of the history of serious illnesses ‘Borz’ has had, especially since 2021, when he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

The Emirati citizen had continued training for a scheduled bout with Leon Edwards even after getting Covid, but his health deteriorated to the point that he was coughing up blood, and had to be hospitalized. His health deteriorated once again a few months later as he was preparing for the rescheduled bout against Edwards. However, he pulled out again and needed medical treatment as he was still dealing with the after-effects of Covid.

Earlier this year, ‘Borz’ fell ill again, and needed to be hospitalized. This is why his falling seriously ill again within a span of six months had many wondering if Chimaev would call it quits due to his health issues. However, this is not the case, and the Emirati citizen is not looking to retire. His manager, Majdi Shammas has confirmed this in a recent interview with the outlet ‘MMA Fighting’.