Monday evening — just as the spooky season was in full swing — UFC Roster Watch, an automated service which monitors changes to the UFC’s athlete database, noticed that nine fighters had been removed from the roster. Those fighters include a pair of Canadians in Jesse Ronson and Misha Cirkunov, as well as Diaz bros. team member Nick Maximov, who had been considered a promising prospect after entering the promotion via the Contender Series.

Cageside Press was able to verify several of the names let go from the promotion; the full list of fighters removed are as follows:

• Jason Witt
• Darian Weeks
• Cameron VanCamp
• Jesse Ronson
• Charlie Ontiveros
• Magomed Mustafaev
• Nick Maximov
• Louis Cosce
• Misha Cirkunov

While the names are no longer on the UFC roster, that does not necessarily mean they’ve been cut outright. Earlier on Monday, for example, Jason Witt (19-9) announced his retirement from MMA. Witt (19-9), who fought for the UFC on six occasions, broke the news on social media.

“I am closing this chapter of my life, but I’m very excited for what the future holds,” he wrote in his farewell message.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkXAC-8piqT/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=b6eca54c-76c2-462d-bd9f-66818d614e02

Louis Cosce (7-2), who won his way into the promotion alongside brother Orion on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, went 0-2 in the company, with a lengthy stint on the sidelines between fights.

Charlie Ontiveros (11-9) went 0-3 for the company, and may be best known for the scary neck injury he endured in his fight with Kevin Holland, which ended in a slam in March of 2020.

Cameron VanCamp (15-7-1) and Darian Weeks (5-3) were also winless inside the octagon, going 0-2 and 0-3, respectively. Canadian vet Jesse Ronson (21-12, 1NC) saw his only win under the UFC banner overturned due to a failed drug test, leaving him with an 0-2 (1NC) record.

Misha Cirkunov (15-9) started his UFC run on a tear, and seemed to be working his way up the light heavyweight division care of four straight wins. But as quickly as his success had blossomed, a contract dispute followed by some tough match-ups knocked him back down. Back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Volkan Oezdemir halted his progress; after that, Cirkunov would post a 2-5 record between the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions.

Most recently, Cirkunov fell to Alonzo Menifield in his return to 205lbs.

Nick Maximov, who trains with the Diaz brothers, fought at heavyweight on the Contender Series, and middleweight in the UFC. He went 2-2 across four fights, losing his last two.

Magomed Mustafaev may be the most curious case of the nine names removed on Monday. Joining the UFC in 2015, he had fought just five times by 2020, going 3-2 including a win over Rafael Fiziev. Missing the last couple of years, he had been expected to return against Yamato Nishikawa at UFC 280, but the fight fell through. Though initially reported to be due to contractual issues with Nishikawa, the Japanese fighter later denied those reports.

Now, it appears Mustafaev is out as well.

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Nishikawa (21-3-6), who has a veteran’s record at just 19-years-old, had been expected to face Magomed Mustafaev (14-4) on the preliminary portion of the PPV event in Abu Dhabi, UAE. However, on Tuesday, reports surfaced that the fight was off, with the news originally attributed to reporter Igor Lazorin, citing Nishikawa’s contract with a former promotion.

Most recently, Nishikawa has been competing under the Shooto banner.

A short while later, Nishikawa himself took to social media to contradict that report (translation via Gazeta Esportiva), saying “Fight got canceled due to my opponent’s reason. Overseas media is making up a story. I absolutely do not lie because I believe in Bushido spirit!”

Nishikawa, who once competed on ONE Championship’s Road to ONE series, has won ten straight fights dating back to May of 2020. Nine of those wins have come under the Shooto banner, with a Vale Tudo Japan bout being the tenth.

Opponent Magomed Mustafaev is 3-2 inside the octagon, but has not competed since 2020. He holds a key win over Rafael Fiziev, but has fought in fits and starts since joining the UFC in 2015. Mustaev has seen no fewer than five fights cancelled since he last competed.

It remains to be seen if the fight is rescheduled, or if one of Mustafaev or Nishikawa (depending on the circumstances) stays on the UFC 280 card.

UFC 280 takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this Saturday, October 22, 2022. Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev face off for lightweight gold in the main event. The following bouts are expected for the card:

• Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev – for the vacant UFC lightweight championship
• Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. T.J. Dillashaw – for the UFC bantamweight championship
• Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley
• Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot
• Katlyn Chookagian vs. Manon Fiorot
• Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady
• Makhmud Muradov vs. Caio Borralho
• Nikita Krylov vs. Volkan Oezdemir
• Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Lucas Almeida
• Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
• Armen Petrosyan vs. A.J. Dobson
• Muhammad Mokaev vs. Malcolm Gordon
• Karol Rosa vs. Lina Länsberg

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The promotion announced Wednesday via press release that Damir Ismagulov will fight Magomed Mustafaev at UFC 267 on October 30, which will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, otherwise known as ‘Fight Island.’

Ismagulov (20-1) has been perfect through four fights in the UFC and is riding a 15-fight win streak from 2015. After not fighting in 2020, the Russian-born Kazakh fighter returned to action against Rafael Alves in May at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt. He won via unanimous decision. Ismagulov holds wins over Joel Alvarez and Thiago Moises, and with a win on October 30, he is likely to enter the top 15 rankings.

Mustafaev (14-3) will be returning from a 20-month layoff when he enters the octagon on October 30. He was last in action against Brad Riddell at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Hooker, where he lost via unanimous decision. Before that loss, he knocked out hot prospect Rafael Fiziev in less than two minutes in 2019.

UFC 267 is expected to be a free pay-per-view, and if promotion President Dana White gets his way, it will be the company’s third ABC card. Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira will headline the event.

The UFC 267 fight card so far looks like this:

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira – for the light heavyweight title
• Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan – for the bantamweight title
• Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Li Jingliang
• Walt Harris vs. Tai Tuivasa
• Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura
• Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Shamil Gamzatov
• Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento
• Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ricardo Ramos
• Makwan Amirkhani vs. Tristan Connelly
• Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yaozong
• Damir Ismagulov vs. Magomed Mustafaev

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Lightweight Brad Riddell’s second UFC assignment was far from a cakewalk. The noted kickboxer, who made a splash in his UFC debut last year against Jamie Mullarkey, was tasked with taking on Magomed Mustafaev, who had returned to competition last April with a spinning back kick finish of Rafael Fiziev, after over two years out of action.

Both men meet at the center of the cage and began slowly circling. Magomed Mustafaev fired first with a high kick that Brad Riddell blocked. Riddell answered with a high kick that Mustafaev backed away from. A body kick hit Riddell cleanly, but then Riddell exploded in and knocked Mustafaev down with a beautiful right hand. Riddell followed him down but Mustafaev didn’t let him flurry by going for an ankle lock. Mustafaev used the submission to stand up, taking the back of Riddell and throwing him down several times. It was a Nurmagomedov-like sequence of non-stop takedowns before Riddell spun around. Mustafaev stuck on him like glue and landed a big knee to the body. With short time left, Riddell turned Mustafaev around and escaped the cage before the end of the round.

A right hand came through for Riddell to start the second and then the fighters began to exchange heavy straight punches. Both men connected and Mustafaev was swept off his feet by a leg kick. Riddell elected to let his opponent stand up and ate a heavy uppercut. Riddell responded with a blistering combination that Mustafaev fought through. Mustafaev got a hold of Riddell and had him against the cage but couldn’t take him down. Riddell spun around, which allowed Mustafaev to get a single leg takedown, albeit briefly. Mustafaev rode out the round forcing Riddell against the cage.

Riddell took the center of the cage, ate a big knee from Mustafaev, but then knocked him down with a beautiful right hook. Mustafaev recovered quickly and got a hold of Riddell against the cage. Riddell broke free, then landed a takedown while getting blasted by a spinning backfist. Mustafaev eventually turned position around and got a takedown. Riddell escaped and began pumping up the crowd in top position. Riddell was avoiding the takedown efforts of Mustafaev and landing ground and pound in the process. An excellent battle between two very tough fighters.

THESE TWO HAVE CHINS MADE OF GRANITE! 😳 #UFCAuckland pic.twitter.com/hUKiQSV8lx

— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2020

Brad Riddell def. Magomed Mustafaev by Split Decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)

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A lightweight bout featuring New Zealand’s own Brad Riddell is lined up for the UFC Auckland card in February 2020. On Tuesday, MMA Junkie, citing Tass.ru journalist Igor Lazorin, reported that Riddell had been booked against Magomed Mustafaev at the event.

Riddell had previously indicated his involvement on the card on social media, but did not have an opponent set at the time. It appears one has now been found.

Riddell (7-1) made his octagon debut at UFC 243 this past October against Jamie Mullarkey, a fight that would go on to earn Fight of the Night honors. Riddell won the bout via a unanimous decision. That extended his current win streak to four.

Magomed Mustafaev is also a recent bonus winner. Mustafaev (15-2) earned a Performance of the Night honor against Rafael Fiziev at UFC St. Petersburg in April. That marked his first bout since 2016, while the Russian fighter dealt with an arm injury suffered in a bout against Kevin Lee. Overall, he’s 3-1 under the UFC banner.

UFC Auckland, expected to air on ESPN+, is set to take place February 23 (or February 22 in North America) at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

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UFC St. Petersburg marked the second trip to Russia for the world’s premiere MMA promotion. The sold out show at the Yubileyny Sports Palace saw heavyweight veteran Alistair Overeem finish off Aleksei Oleinik at the end of the first round, but that performance wasn’t enough to snag ‘The Reem’ a bonus. Instead, UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content David Shaw announced post-fight that Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan had earned Fight of the Night honors. Performance of the Night bonuses, meanwhile, went to Magomed Mustafaev and Sergei Pavlovich.

Arman Tsarukyan was an absolute surprise on the card Saturday. Signed in late March by the UFC, the undefeated Tiger Muay Thai product had a tough test in his promotional debut against Islam Makhachev. Dagestan’s Makachev entered the night with four straight wins under the UFC banner, 5-1 in the promotion overall. He improved that figure to 6-1 after a fantastic grappling battle against a surprisingly game Tsarukyan. For the newcomer, an extra $50,000 should take some of the sting off the first loss of his career.

Performance bonuses favored the knockout artists. Magomed Mustafaev finished off Rafael Fiziev thanks to a well-placed spinning back fist (plus follow-up strikes), while Sergei Pavlovich took barely over a minute to knock out Brazil’s Marcelo Golm.

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Magomed Mustafaev entered the UFC after winning a one-night tournament in Russia in September 2014, defeating three men including Abubakar Nurmagomedov (the brother of Khabib). He won his first two fights in the Octagon before running into former title contender Kevin Lee in 2016. Mustafaev lost the fight and injured his arm, missing both 2017 and 2018. Mustafaev has stoppages in all 14 of his victories.

Rafael Fiziev is a top prospect out of Kyrgyzstan, set to make his promotional debut at UFC St. Petersburg. The Tiger Muay Thai product has knockouts in five of his six victories and a submission in the other. Fiziev last fought for Titan FC in December, where he won by body kick stoppage.

Mustafev started the fight immediately with a high spinning back kick, it almost dropped Fiziev but it just glanced off the chin. Mustafev looked for a couple of heavy leg kicks. Soon after, he went back to the well with the spinning back kick, and this time it landed clean. It drops Fiziev and he looks for ground-and-pound, and he gets the quick stoppage!

Good. Morning. 😳 #UFCStPetersburg pic.twitter.com/Rx8OCV2Kk8

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 20, 2019

Mustafev was gone for two years due to injury, and wasted no time getting back to work.

Magomed Mustafev def. Rafael Fiziev by TKO in Round 1 (1:26)

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