The UFC has entered the second half of the year, and Dana White is already facing some struggles behind the scenes. Apart from the highly anticipated BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier in the latter’s last fight at UFC 318, the promotion will be coming all the way to the other side of the world for a Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, featuring Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder in the main event.

The Robert Whittaker vs Reinier de Ridder headliner (UFC on ABC 9) has some pretty interesting matchups on the card. The event has a total of eight fights for the fans, which includes a flyweight matchup. Well, Dana White’s plans for that fight seem to have gone to bits. Just last year, Ramazan Temirov stormed into the UFC scene with a knockout over CJ Vergara, and with that, followed by a unanimous decision victory over Charles Johnson.

For Abu Dhabi, Dana White decided to pair Ramazan Temirov up with Asu Almabayev, who recently suffered his first UFC loss. However, reports claim that the Uzbek fighter has pulled out of the fight, and if you’re wondering about the reason behind it, there’s no word on that as of now. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Jose Ochoa has stepped in as a short-notice replacement to take on Almabayev.

Given that there have been so many instances of planned fights failing to materialize or setbacks related to financial goals, this doesn’t really come as a surprise. However, there’s nothing to worry about for the fans because UFC on ABC 9 will have a multiple-time BJJ world champion making his UFC debut in the United Arab Emirates.

In the jiu-jitsu world, Marcus Buchecha is a pretty big name, who’s won over a dozen world championships. The Brazilian legend made his MMA entry pretty late, in his 30s, but has been able to impress fans with a 5-1 record, and guess what? Buchecha also has a hundred percent finishing rate. After competing under the ONE Championship banner from 2021 to 2024, he became a free agent and came under Dana White’s radar.

Now, reports revealed Marcus Buchecha has signed with the UFC and is going to make his debut against Martin Buday. This fight appears to be a pretty late addition to the Abu Dhabi card since the official website has listed it on the Fight Night card, but MMA Fighting claims that the fight is locked in. So, Dana White has set the total tally of nine fights for UFC on ABC 9.

Well, there are a lot of exciting matchups to look out for on the 26th of July, as former PFL star Aaron Pico is also making his debut. He’s pretty determined to make an impact, but it won’t be easy as he takes on the undefeated Movsar Evloev. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for Dana White and Co. and if they’re able to avoid another setback with less than three weeks to go for UFC Abu Dhabi. Let us know your thoughts on the replacement for the flyweight matchup in the comments down below.