The UFC Saudi Arabia card set for February 1 in Riyadh took a hit on Sunday, January 26. The event lost a main card fight as middleweight Andre Muniz experienced problems getting a visa and, thus, he is unable to travel to KSA to face Ikram Aliskerov.
“Unfortunately, neither I nor my team, nor the UFC, knew about this in time to let us know, and I haven’t been able to go through the entire process to get this document yet,” Muniz said in a story on Instagram, translated from Portuguese. “The UFC thought it would be better to reschedule my fight with the same opponent, but it took another date. I’m waiting for you to set the date right away, and that’s it.”
According to Muniz, the fight will be rescheduled at a later time, but the date wasn’t revealed. The 34-year-old Brazilian has been out of action for more than a year, and this is now the second time a fight with Aliskerov has been called off.
The two men were set to fight in June 2024, but Muniz withdrew. In Muniz’s last fight, he defeated Jun Yong Park via split decision in December 2023. That victory snapped a two-fight losing streak after he was submitted by Paul Craig and Brendan Allen earlier that year.
When Muniz broke into the UFC following a submission victory over Taylor Johnson on an episode of the Dana White Contender Series in August 2019, he looked like one of the most promising middleweights on the scene. He came into the DWCS on a three-fight win streak and proceeded to push his run of victories to nine straight before he fell to Allen. Because of Muniz’s need to re-establish momentum, this issue comes at an inopportune time.
The same could be said for Aliskerov.
His last fight was in June 2024, when he stepped in for an ill Khamzat Chimaev to take on Robert Whittaker. The former UFC champion made quick work of Aliskerov. It took Whittaker just 1:49 to score the KO victory.
Aliskerov was looking to bounce back and rekindle the momentum he had when he took the big step up to fight Whittaker. He’ll need to wait a bit longer now with Muniz forced out of the fight.
It remains to be seen if Aliskerov will look to fight someone else on an upcoming card, or if he and Muniz could potentially be added to UFC 313 on March 8.
Updated UFC Saudi Arabia Card:
- Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michael Page – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. André Muniz – Middleweight (185 lbs) – CANCELED
- Muhammad Naimov vs. Kaan Ofli – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Petersen – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Terrance McKinney vs. Damir Hadžović – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Fares Ziam vs. Mike Davis – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – Flyweight (125 lbs)
- Bogdan Grad vs. L. Alexander – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Bolaji Oki – Lightweight (155 lbs)
Stay tuned for fight week coverage leading up to the event.
