Wellington Turman Replaces Makhmud Muradov Against Misha Cirkunov at UFC Fight Night 202

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One Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight’s loss is another’s gain in this era of constant fight replacements.

On Thursday, Makhmud Muradov (25-7) announced on Instagram that he had injured his arm and will no longer be competing at UFC Fight Night 202 on Feb. 26. A day later, the organization set a replacement for him in Wellington Turman (17-5), who will step in to face Misha Cirkunov (15-7) at the Las Vegas event inside the UFC Apex. This news first came from MMA Junkie on Friday, and this new pairing has been confirmed by other outlets.

Turman was originally slated to take on Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 270, but Vieira fell ill and pulled out of the matchup on the day of weigh-ins. In his last time out, he fought Sam Alvey and secured a strange split decision after losing two points for repeated eye pokes in the match. The loss snapped a two-fight first-round knockout skid at the hands of Andrew Sanchez and Bruno Silva in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Cirkunov’s middleweight debut did not go his way at UFC Fight Night 193, dropping down to 185 pounds and taking on Krzysztof Jotko, only to lose a split decision. By losing on the scorecards, the Latvian fighter suffered the first decision loss of his career, and it made just the third time he had ever gone the distance as a pro. Each of the last 10 victories for Cirkunov has come by stoppage.

UFC Fight Night 202 goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb. 26 with lightweights on tap for the headliner. In a possible title eliminator match in the marquee, Beneil Dariush squares off with Islam Makhachev. While the bout order has not yet been set, the likely co-main event comes in the form of a light heavyweight banger between Ryan Spann and Ion Cutelaba.