Zhalgas Zhumagulov should be used to it by now.
On Thursday, it appeared Zhumagulov had had yet another fight fall through, with opponent Felipe Bunes dropping out of UFC Vegas 75 the day before weigh-ins. That’s the third straight opponent flyweight Zhumagulov — who has also had a string of close decisions go against him — has seen withdraw.
The Kazakh fighter announced the news himself on social media, proving that despite the string of bad luck, his sense of humor remains intact.
This haircut is 2-0 in ufc even without appearing in the octagon. Another opponent doesn’t want to take his chance and pulled out 🤦🏻♂️ 😡 pic.twitter.com/kwvoFIsx2i
— Zhalgas Zhumagulov (@ZhakoZhumagulov) June 15, 2023
However, per a report by Eurosport’s Marcel Dorff, Zhumagulov will now fight Joshua Van at UFC Jacksonville next week. Van confirmed the booking on his Instagram Story on Thursday.
Van had been expected to appear on this year’s run of Dana White’s Contender Series, booked opposite Kevin Borjas in August. Going straight to the big show, however, feels like a much better option.
Zhumagulov has lost three straight fights, and at one point had announced his retirement. After reconsidering, he’s been trying to get back in the cage ever since. The last two of those losses came via split decision, and easily could have gone the other way.
UFC Jacksonville takes place June 24, 2023 with Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria headlining. The card airs on broadcast network ABC, and currently breaks down as follows:
- Josh Emmett vs. Ilia Topuria
- Amanda Ribas vs. Maycee Barber
- Punahele Soriano vs. Sedriques Dumas
- David Onama vs. Gabriel Santos
- Brendan Allen vs. Bruno Silva
- Neil Magny vs. Philip Rowe
- Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
- Randy Brown vs. Wellington Turman
- Mateusz Rębecki vs. Loik Radzhabov
- Tabatha Ricci vs. Gillian Robertson
- Jamall Emmers vs. Jack Jenkins
- Tatsuro Taira vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
- Trevor Peek vs. Jose Mariscal
- Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Joshua Van
