Outside Source
The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Seattle comeback is falling apart at the seams.
Over the last few days, rumors or reports have come up about numerous alterations to UFC Seattle, also known as UFC Fight Night 252, going down on Feb. 22. Most notably is the breaking of the news that Macy Chiasson suffered an injury and has been forced out of her bantamweight contest with Ketlen Vieira, without replacement planned for either woman.
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The UFC announced on Thursday that fight’s cancelation along with two new pairings and the confirmation of one bout shifting to a later event. Curtis Blaydes and Rizvan Kuniev were expected to battle in this Seattle showdown, but they have been bumped to UFC 313 two weeks later. Finally, two new fights are on deck for UFC Fight Night 252: Alonzo Menifield (15-5-1) vs. Julius Walker (6-0) at light heavyweight, and middleweights Nursulton Ruziboev (34-9-2, 2 NC) and Eric McConico (9-2-1) throwing down.
“Atomic Alonzo” will enter this event on a bit of a rough patch, with his 2024 campaign starting and ending with knockout losses to put himself on his second career losing streak. Before then, Menifield had won a revenge match against Jimmy Crute and outstruck Dustin Jacoby to stay in the upper echelon of the division.
Missouri’s Walker will be making his organizational debut against Walker, and only turned pro in April 2023. Six straight stoppages in the Synergy FC and Peak Fighting League organizations on the regional circuit earned him a late-notice callup. Walker has fought just once into the second round, with his longest pro fight time 6:38.
Veteran of the Russian and Commonwealth of Independent State circuits, the well-experienced Ruziboev is coming into this matchup having suffered his first loss in nearly five years. Since a decision setback to Boris Miroshnichenko in 2019, Ruziboev excelled, rattling off 10 wins—all in the first round—before meeting Joaquin Buckley in mid-2024 and getting turned away.
A graduate of the recent Tuff-N-Uff transition to pro, McConico was expected to take on Randall Wallace atop a Tuff-N-Uff event on Friday. Instead, he has been pulled to step up to the major leagues, and he will do so on a five-fight win streak. In 2024, the MMA Lab representative picked up a win over Tyler Ray, and then tapped Jarome Hatch to get some further recognition.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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