A potential #1 contender fight at men’s flyweight is no longer happening.
Askar Askarov has withdrawn from his August 28th matchup with Alex Perez due to injury, but the good news is that a formidable replacement has been found. ESPN reported that Matt Schnell has agreed to step in.
Schnell (15-6) is coming off a decision defeat to Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 262. He was supposed to face Perez before Perez withdrew to injury, and Bontorin stepped up and proceeded to miss weight even when it was moved up to bantamweight. Prior to that loss, Schnell had been on a 5-1 run that included a decision over Tyson Nam and submissions over Jordan Espinosa and Louis Smolka.
Perez (24-6) has not fought since a guillotine choke loss to then champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 256. He took that bout on short notice in place of Cody Garbrandt, having impressively won three straight over Mark De La Rosa, Jordan Espinosa, and Jussier Formiga.
The UFC’s August 28th show is expected to be headlined by a featherweight banger between dangerous strikers Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze.
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