Abubakar Nurmagomedov out, Daniel Rodriguez awaits UFC on ESPN 26 replacement
Abubakar Nurmagomedov is injured
Daniel Rodriguez is currently without an opponent for UFC on ESPN 26 on July 17.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov has withdrawn due to undisclosed injury from the welterweight bout expected to the place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rodriguez announced the change via an Instagram Story on Wednesday, saying, “Fight canceled due to injury. Looking for a replacement.”
MyMMANews later confirmed the news with a person close to the situation, who asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has not made an official announcement.
Rodriguez is looking to earn back-to-back wins after defeating Mike Perry by unanimous decision at UFC on ABC 2 this past April. He is 4-1 since making his octagon debut in February 2020.
The California native left without a UFC contract after beating Rico Farrington by decision on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2019. He followed up with a second-round knockout of Quinton McCottrell at SMASH Global 9 in December 2019.
Rodriguez signed with the UFC after accepting a fight with Tim Means in Februrary 2020. His only octagon loss is a unanimous decision defeat to Nicolas Dalby at UFC 255 last November.
Currently ranked first in strikes per minute at 8.05, Rodriguez told MyMMANews earlier this month, “I’ve been through it all and I carry that on my shoulder when I step into the cage. That’s my style, I just go. I show up to fight, I just keep pressing him, keep throwing blows, that’s my style.”
Nurmagomedov split his only two UFC appearances. He most recently defeated Jared Gooden at UFC 260 last March. He signed with the promotion in 2018 after going 6-1-1 under the Professional Fight League and World Series of Fighting.
