Ozkilic (right) will not be able to fight at the UFC in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
The UFC Fight Night Night 39 card, which will be held on April 11 in Abu Dhabi, suffered a last-minute loss. Turkish Alptekin Ozkilic, who would face Dustin Ortiz on the event's preliminary list, suffered an injury and will not be able to fight. The organization is looking for a replacement for Ortiz, but, due to the proximity of the event in Abu Dhabi, the fight will have to be rescheduled for a future attraction.
Thus, UFC Fight Night 39 will feature nine fights. The main one will be between Rodrigo Minotauro, former PRIDE champion and former interim UFC champion, against Roy Nelson, winner of TUF 10. Two other Brazilians will perform on the night: Thales leites will look for his third straight UFC victory against Trevor Smith, and Rani Yaya faces Johnny Bedford.
This will be the UFC's second visit to the capital of the United Arab Emirates. In 2010, at UFC 112, the event was marked by two belt defenses. Anderson Silva won Demian Maia for the middleweight title, and Frankie Edgar hit B.J. Penn to become lightweight champion.
Check out the final UFC Fight Night 39 card:
- Rodrigo Minotauro x Roy Nelson;
- Clay guida x Tatsuya Kawajiri;
- Thales leites x Trevor Smith;
– John Howard x Ryan LaFlare;
– Chris Camozzi x Andrew Craig;
– Ramsey Nijem x Beneil Dariush;
– Jared Rosholt x Daniel Omielanczuk;
- Rani Yaya x Johnny Bedford;
– Alan Omer x Jim Alers.
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