Citing personal reasons, Elizu Zaleski dos Santos has withdrawn from his planned welterweight bout with Mounir Lazzez at UFC Vegas 51 this Saturday.
Zaleski vs. Lazzez had been expected to open up the main card of the event, otherwise known as UFC on ESPN 34. On Monday, MMA Fighting was first to report news of Zaleski’s withdrawal, which leaves Lazzez in limbo less than a week out from the fight.
Brazil’s Zaleski (23-7), 35, last competed in October of 2021, where he won a one-sided beatdown of Benoit St. Denis at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi. He has not competed since. Zaleski has posted a 2-2 record across his last four fights, though a split decision loss against Muslim Salikhov easily could have gone the other way.
Lazzez (10-2) is 1-1 in the promotion, and looking to bounce back from a loss to Warlley Alves last time out.
As it stands, the UFC Vegas 51 card, set for the Apex on Saturday, April 16, 2022, breaks down as follows:
- Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Wu Yanan
- Pat Sabatini vs. T.J. Laramie
- Rafa García vs. Jesse Ronson
- Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
- Istela Nunes vs. Sam Hughes
- Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom
- Drakkar Klose vs. Brandon Jenkins
- Miguel Baeza vs. André Fialho
- Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
- Lina Länsberg vs. Pannie Kianzad
- Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden
- William Knight vs. Devin Clark
- Mounir Lazzez vs. TBA
