The Bearjew gets the call! @PCraigMMA
vs @Antigulov_MMA
at
#UFCFightIsland3#InAbuDhabi
| @VisitAbuDhabi
pic.twitter.com/46gkLnNrO0— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope)
July 2, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The final
Ultimate Fighting Championship event on “Fight Island” has
undergone some sudden changes. On Thursday, the UFC announced
that Paul Craig
(12-4-1) will be facing Gadzhimurad
Antigulov (20-6) at light heavyweight at the
UFC Fight Night event on July 25. This card will take place on
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Craig was originally
set to square off against Ryan Spann in
March, but his event was scratched due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Antigulov encountered a similar situation when his event on June 13
– one later rescheduled from Kazakhstan to the U.S. – was similarly
impacted by COVID-19 and his pairing with Klidson
Abreu was scuttled.
When victorious, “Bearjew” has finished all 12 of his opponents. He
went the distance for the first time in his career against Mauricio Rua
in November, where the two fought to an unexpected split draw.
Before his draw, the Scot alternated wins and losses in each of his
last six. Craig holds the unusual distinction of being the only
fighter in UFC history to win and lose a bout with 10 seconds left
in the match. Craig tapped Magomed Ankalev at 4:59 of Round 3,
while Jim
Crute submitted him at 4:51 also in the third frame.
The Dagestani fighter posts a nearly impressive finish rate of 95
percent, with each of his last eight bouts ending inside the
distance, win or lose. Antigulov is on a two-fight skid, with each
coming by first-round knockout to Ion
Cutelaba and Michal
Oleksiejczuk. Since the defeat to Oleksiejczuk, Antigulov has
struggled to get a fight, with three bouts falling through for one
reason or another against Ed Herman,
Devin
Clark and Abreu.
In addition to the Craig-Antigulov addition, two matchups have also
changed. Danny
Roberts has been forced to pull out of his bout with Nicolas
Dalby, while Shavkat
Rakhmonov has also had to withdraw from his contest against
Ramazan
Emeev.
MMA Junkie was first to report this news on Thursday. The
reasons for their withdrawals are currently undisclosed, and the
promotion has not yet tapped replacement opponents for Dalby and
Emeev.
Roberts was looking to keep it rolling after a faceplanting
knockout of Zelim
Imadaev, and in doing so became the first fighter to finish the
Russian as a pro. The victory snapped a two-fight finish skid
against Claudio
Henrique
da Silva and Michel
Pereira. Rakhmonov will have to wait until later to make his
UFC debut, as the unbeaten Kazakhstani fighter was signed after
winning 12 bouts and finishing each opponent.
The July 25 event will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in the
United Arab Emirates. The card will be headlined by a middleweight
tilt between former champ Robert
Whittaker and Darren Till.
The co-main will see a trilogy match between Mauricio Rua
and Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira, as the two have previously met in 2005 and
2015 – “Shogun” won both by decision.