Ikram
Aliskerov has been forced to withdraw from
UFC 298 due to a staph infection.
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As a result, Roman
Kopylov will step in and face Anthony
Hernandez on Feb. 17. The Las Vegas-based promotion initially
confirmed Aliskerov’s exit over the weekend, and MMAFighting.com subsequently brought word of
the new middleweight booking.
Unfortunately because of staph infection I
had to cancel my fight. It was a great chance to jump to the top 15
and fight in this crazy fight card…
See you guys after Ramadan— ikram_aliskerov (@ikram_aliskerov)
January 21, 2024
UFC 298 takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and
is headlined by a featherweight championship clash between Alexander
Volkanovski and Ilia
Topuria. Hernandez vs. Kopylov is expected to take place on the
evening’s main card.
Kopylov has been victorious in his last four Octagon appearances.
Most recently, the 32-year-old Russian scored a second-round
knockout of Josh Fremd
at UFC Fight Night 227. He has also earned KO/TKO wins over
Claudio
Ribeiro Punahele
Soriano and Alessio
Di Chirico during his current streak.
A competitor on Season 2 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, Hernandez has also won his last
four UFC bouts. In his lone appearance of 2023, “Fluffy” defeated
Edmen
Shahbazyan via third-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 223 last May.