Things didn’t go so well at the last minute for a few fighters scheduled to fight at UFC 257, but it looks like we’ll get the best of a bad situation. Due to the cancellation of fights between Ottman Azaitar vs Matt Frevola and Arman Tsarukyan vs Nasrat Haqparast, arrangements have been made for Frevola and Tsarukyan to fight each other on this card.
Haqparast was unable to make weight on his first attempt and did not make it back within the allotted time window to retry, and Ottman reportedly did not show at all.
Frevola (8-1, 1 draw) is currently 2-1 with 1 draw in the UFC, with both of his wins being back to back decisions against very tough opposition in Luis Peña and Jalin Turner. The Floridian had a great undefeated run at the amateur level and appears to have really found his footing in the UFC.
Tsarukyan (15-2) has a solid wrestling base and has spent a chunk of his time down at Tiger Muay Thai sharpening his overall game. He’s also got back to back wins after losing his UFC debut, with those wins coming against Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Davi Ramos.
Considering their standings in the division, this change really shouldn’t hurt either fighter’s possible upward mobility with a win. Both are good talents that are a bit more seasoned than the average prospect and still appear to be developing quite nicely. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ll at least get paid and can stay active in an already complicated environment.
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