The July 17 UFC Fight Night officially has a new main event, with the scheduled bout between Islam Makhachev and Thiago Moises being promoted to the card’s main event.
After it was revealed last week that Max Holloway was forced to withdraw from the July 17 UFC Fight Night main event against Yair Rodriguez, Giga Chikadze claimed that he was offered to step in to face Rodriguez as a replacement. Chikadze even took to social media to directly urge Rodriguez to step up to the plate and accept the fight.
If Chikadze’s claim is true, then it appears that Rodriguez has opted to decline this change in opponent. This, as reported by MMA Junkie on Wednesday evening, has led to the Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises bout to serve as the new main event.
Currently ranked #9 in the lightweight division, Islam Makhachev has had quite a time in finding opponents that will get him closer to a title shot. The fact that Makhachev will be under the main event spotlight for the first time in his UFC career may be enough to compensate for Moises’ relatively low ranking of #14 and bump Makhachev up closer to title contention with a victory. After all, that would make eight consecutive wins for the Dagestani, including a five-round victory, which does not grow on trees.
The opportunity for Thiago Moises is arguably even bigger. A win over Makhachev would greatly increase both his ranking and his profile. Many people view Makhachev as a sure-fire future title contender and as already being among the lightweight elite. A win here by the 26-year-old Moises would steal that hype and also land him a spot in the division’s top 10 in all likelihood. Now, the young upstart will have five rounds to pull off this feat as opposed to the originally allotted three.
With this new main event now set, the updated lineup for the July 17 UFC Fight Night card is as follows:
Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises
Marion Reneau vs. Miesha Tate
Jeremy Stephens vs. Mateusz Gamrot
Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Amir Albazi vs. Ode Osbourne
Khalid Tuna vs. Sergey Morozov
Billy Quarantillo vs. Gabriel Benitez
Deron Winn vs. Phil Hawes
Don Madge vs. Guram Kutateladze
Francisco Figueredo vs. Malcolm Gordon
Anderson dos Santos vs. Miles Johns
Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
Amanda Lemos vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Who do you think will seize this unexpected main event opportunity? Islam Makhachev or Thiago Moises?
