UFC’s January 15th card has suffered a few changes just a few days before it is set to happen.
The upcoming “Fight Night” card lost two matchups Wednesday, although one of them has already been accounted for with a new short-notice opponent.
Undisclosed reasons have forced former CFFC Bantamweight Champion Saidyokub Kakhramonov out of his fight against Brian Kelleher, per a report from MyMMANews.com.
UFC is currently in talks to replace Kakhramonov with Kevin Croom. News of the new matchup was first reported by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, saying it has not been finalized but is near completion.
The potential matchup gives Croom a chance to score his first UFC win. His last appearance was a loss to Alex Caceres in February 2021. Croom is going from one veteran opponent to another with this matchup of him against Kelleher.
Kelleher returned to the win column in his last showing, going three rounds against Domingo Pilarte for a unanimous decision win in August.
Juarez vs. Demopoulos Moved To UFC 270
Saturday’s card also lost a fight between strawweights Silvana Gomez Juarez and Vanessa Demopoulos, per MMA Fighting. The matchup is now expected to happen a week later, taking place at UFC 270 on January 22nd.
Both fighters will be competing for their first UFC win. Demopoulos, a former LFA Strawweight Champion, lost her promotional debut to JJ Aldrich in August. Two months later, Juarez lost her respective UFC debut against Loopy Godinez.
The recent changes bring Saturday’s UFC card down to 10 bouts in total. It has suffered numerous changes throughout the week, including the departure of a co-main event fight between Michel Pereira and Muslim Salikhov. Pereira has since been matched against UFC newcomer Andre Fialho for the pay-per-view card later this month.
UFC’s January 15th card is currently set to be headlined by featherweights Giga Chikadze and Calvin Kattar.
What do you think about these recent changes? Do you like the new bantamweight matchup?