Little has been heard from Shamil Abdurakhimov in the last two years, but it seems the heavyweight will return to the octagon this July to face Chris Daukaus at a Fight Night event.
BJPenn.com first reported the fight announcement, though the UFC is yet to confirm the news. The July 24th event is expected to be headlined by a bantamweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and the former champion T.J. Dillashaw.
Abdurakhimov (20-5) was booked to fight Ciryl Gane four times in 2020, but injuries and undisclosed pullouts meant the fight never materialized. Abdurakhimov’s bad luck continued when he was forced out of a fight Augusto Sakai earlier this month due to visa issues. The 39-year-old is without a win since defeating Marcin Tybura in April 2019.
Daukaus (11-3) made his UFC debut last August when he stopped Parker Porter on just nine days’ notice. The 31-year-old has since picked up consecutive performance bonuses, stopping both Rodrigo Nascimento and Aleksei Oleinik by first-round knockout.
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