UFC Seattle Lineup Shifts Due to Injury, New Added Matches

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Seattle comeback is falling
apart at the seams.

Over the last few days, rumors or reports have come up about
numerous alterations to UFC Seattle, also known as
UFC Fight Night 252, going down on Feb. 22. Most notably is the
breaking of the news that Macy
Chiasson suffered an injury and has been forced out of her
bantamweight contest with Ketlen
Vieira, without replacement planned for either woman.

The UFC announced
on Thursday that fight’s cancelation along with two new pairings
and the confirmation of one bout shifting to a later event.
Curtis
Blaydes and Rizvan
Kuniev were expected to battle in this Seattle showdown, but
they have been bumped to UFC 313 two weeks later. Finally, two new
fights are on deck for UFC Fight Night 252: Alonzo
Menifield (15-5-1) vs. Julius
Walker (6-0) at light heavyweight, and middleweights Nursulton
Ruziboev (34-9-2, 2 NC) and Eric
McConico (9-2-1) throwing down.

“Atomic Alonzo” will enter this event on a bit of a rough patch,
with his 2024 campaign starting and ending with knockout losses to
put himself on his second career losing streak. Before then,
Menifield had won a revenge match against Jimmy Crute
and outstruck Dustin
Jacoby to stay in the upper echelon of the division.

Missouri’s Walker will be making his organizational debut against
Walker, and only turned pro in April 2023. Six straight stoppages
in the Synergy FC and Peak Fighting League organizations on the
regional circuit earned him a late-notice callup. Walker has fought
just once into the second round, with his longest pro fight time
6:38.

Veteran of the Russian and Commonwealth of Independent State
circuits, the well-experienced Ruziboev is coming into this matchup
having suffered his first loss in nearly five years. Since a
decision setback to Boris
Miroshnichenko in 2019, Ruziboev excelled, rattling off 10
wins—all in the first round—before meeting Joaquin
Buckley in mid-2024 and getting turned away.

A graduate of the recent Tuff-N-Uff transition to pro, McConico was
expected to take on Randall
Wallace atop a Tuff-N-Uff event on Friday. Instead, he has been
pulled to step up to the major leagues, and he will do so on a
five-fight win streak. In 2024, the MMA Lab representative picked
up a win over Tyler Ray, and
then tapped Jarome
Hatch to get some further recognition.

Additionally, Eurosport_NL posted on social media about the
withdrawal of Edson
Barboza from this fight card. His opponent Steve
Garcia has since confirmed the fight’s cancelation on
https://www.instagram.com/stories/meanmachine505/>Instagram,
remarking that the fight was “cancelled” and not that it was being
postponed or rebooked, or that another competitor was being brought
in. It was to be Barboza’s first jaunt back in the cage since a
headlining loss to Lerone
Murphy that put the Brazilian’s win streak on the back burner.