Just days after losing their opponents, a pair of middleweights have found a new matchup against each other.
[autotag]Misha Cirkunov[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) will fight [autotag]Wellington Turman[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) next month at UFC Fight Night 202. The promotion announced the new booking Friday for the Feb. 26 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Cirkunov had been scheduled to fight Makhmud Muradov (25-7 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 202, but Muradov announced his withdrawal Thursday due to a hand injury. Turman was supposed to fight Rodolfo Vieira to open the main card this past Saturday at UFC 270, but Vieira was forced out the day before the fight due to medical reasons, leaving Turman without a bout.
Cirkunov will be looking to snap a two-fight skid. In March 2021, he was knocked out in the first round by Ryan Spann. This past October, he dropped a split decision to Krzysztof Jotko. After an eight-fight winning streak, including his first four in the UFC by stoppage, Cirkunov has dropped five of his past seven fights.
Turman is coming off a rebound win. After suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Andrew Sanchez and Bruno Silva, the 25-year-old edged out Sam Alvey by split decision at UFC on ESPN 30 in August 2021 in a bout in which he was deducted two points for repeated eye poke offenses.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 202 lineup now includes:
- Beneil Dariush vs. Islam Makhachev
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Rong Zhu
- Hannah Goldy vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Joel Alvarez vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Wellington Turman
- Victor Altamirano vs. Carlos Hernandez
- Terrance McKinney vs. Fares Ziam
- Micheal Gillmore vs. Jonny Parsons
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Josiane Nunes vs. Wu Yanan