Sergei Pavlovich has been pulled from a bout against Ciryl Gane at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik, so the UFC has decided to book Gane against Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 253.
MMA Junkie reported the news, while stating that a knee injury is what knocked Pavlovich out of his fight.
Abdurakhimov (20-5-0) has won three of his last four under the UFC banner, with those wins coming over Chase Sherman, Andrei Arlovski and Marcin Tybura. Abdurakhimov is winless thus far when competing on UFC pay-per-view events, having dropped a bout to Curtis Blaydes at UFC 242. Abdurakhimov has suffered five losses as a professional MMA fighter and three of them came by way of KO/TKO.
Gane (6-0-0) has already picked up three wins in the UFC, with those victories coming over Raphael Pessoa, Don’Tale Mayes and Tanner Boser. Abdurakhimov is undefeated thus far as a professional MMA fighter and that streak has lasted just over a year. Abdurakhimov has competed six times as a professional MMA fighter and just one of those encounters went the distance.
UFC 253 takes place on Saturday, September 19 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
