Next month’s UFC 273 is down a fight, after Nassourdine Imavov encountered difficulties obtaining a visa to compete in the United States.
Imavov (11-3) had been booked opposite Kelvin Gastelum (16-8, 1NC) at the Pay-Per-View event, in what would have been a significant step up for the Russian-born middleweight from France. However, that will apparently have to wait. Gastelum revealed the news himself on social media on Monday, saying that the promotion was “trying to figure things out.”
Unfortunately my opponent was unable to obtain a visa.
Hopefully that gets worked out ASAP.
We’re trying to figure out other options.
So stay tuned…..#UFC273— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) March 28, 2022
Whether that means a new opponent for Gastelum, or the fight being pushed back to a later date, remains to be seen.
Imavov has won his past two fights, most recently finishing prospect Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC 268 last year. Gastelum has lost two straight, to ex-champ Robert Whittaker, and the man who likely will get the next title shot, Jared Cannonier.
UFC 273 is set to take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on April 9, 2022. The following bouts are expected to take place at the event:
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Chan Sung Jung – for the UFC featherweight championship
Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan (ic) – for the UFC bantamweight championship / title unification bout
Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks
Dricus du Plessis vs. Anthony Hernandez
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura
Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott
Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos
Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen
Aspen Ladd vs. Raquel Pennington
