A welterweight clash pitting Rinat
Fakhretdinov against Nursulton
Ruziboev has been targeted for UFC
308.
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Both fighters confirmed the bout on social media following an
initial report from Marcel Dorff. UFC 308 takes place at
Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 and is also expected to
include a heavyweight tilt between Ciryl Gane
and Alexander
Volkov.
According to Fakhretdinov, the booking was not ideal for either
fighter.
“Know me and Nursultan were against this fight,” Fakhretdinov wrote
on Instagram (via translate). “This fight is not profitable for
anyone. I will tell you, we did everything possible to prevent this
fight, but we are only fighters. The league always has the final
word, so don’t throw stones at us. The circumstances have turned
out to be. The league has decided for us. But nothing changes, as
we were friends with Nursulton, we will be friends, and after the
fight I will come to visit him for pilaf (I hope he will invite
me).”
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A native of Moscow, Fakhretdinov is unbeaten in his first five
Octagon appearances, with a majority draw against Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in November 2023 the only blemish on his
ledger during that time. In his last outing, “Gladiator” took a
split verdict against Nicolas
Dalby to improve his career mark to 22-1-1.
Ruziboev, meanwhile, saw a 10-bout professional winning streak come
to an end at UFC on ESPN 56, where he dropped a unanimous decision
to Joaquin
Buckley on May 11. The Kazakhstan native began his promotional
tenure with consecutive first-round stoppages of Brunno
Ferreira and Sedriques
Dumas.