The UFC management again failed to fulfill the request of the rating Russian lightweight Islam Makhachev and find him a top rival.
According to the MMA Junkie portal, referring to a source familiar with the situation, the next opponent of the Russian will be the Brazilian Thiago Moises. Their fight will take place on July 17 at one of the UFC Fight Night format tournaments. It is not yet known where and in what arena this event will take place.
Makhachev, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports / MMA Junkie lightweight rankings, is riding a seven-fight winning streak at 155 pounds and is coming off a submission victory over Drew Dober at UFC 259 in March.
Rather than facing the top-ranked name he was asking for, though, Makhachev will clash with the unranked Moises, who has put together consecutive wins over Alexander Hernandez, Bobby Green and Michael Johnson.
The latest lineup for UFC Fight Night on July 17 now includes:
Marion Reneau vs. Miesha tate
Amir Albazi vs. Ode osbourne
Sergey Morozov vs. Khalid taha
Guram Kutateladze vs. Don madge
Cameron Else vs. Aaron phillips
Herbert Burns vs. Billy quarantillo
Francisco Figueredo vs. Malcolm gordon
Anderson dos Santos vs. Miles Johns
Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo nascimento
Phil Hawes vs. Deron winn
Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago moises