Allan Nascimento Replaces Steve Erceg, Meets Asu Almabayev at UFC Vegas 103

Asu Almabayev will get a different matchup than originally anticipated at UFC Vegas 103.

The promotion initially announced that Almabayev would lock horns with former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg at the March 1 event. However, the Kazakhstan native will instead lock horns with Allan Nascimento on the same card. The new pairing was confirmed by UFC broadcast partner ESPN on its event page. Erceg has reportedly been moved to the UFC Mexico City card to face Brandon Moreno on March 29, but that booking has not been formally announced.

Almabaev has kicked off his promotiona tenure with four consecutive triumphs. He concluded a 3-0 2024 campaign with a three-round verdict over Matheus Nicolau at UFC Fight Night 245 this past October. The Brave Combat Federation veteran has won 17 straight professional outings dating back to September 2017.

After dropping his Octagon debut against Tagir Ulanbekov, Nascimento has rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs over Jake Hadley and Carlos Hernandez in UFC competition. The 33-year-old Chute Boxe Diego Lima representative has finished 14 of his 20 professional triumphs by way of submission.

UFC Vegas 103 — also known as UFC Fight Night 254 — takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a flyweight scrap pitting Brandon Royval against Manel Kape.