Rafael dos Anjos will remain on this weekend’s UFC 272 card, but it won’t be against Islam Makhachev.
The promotion announced on Tuesday that fellow Brazilian Renato Moicano will step in on just a few days notice to take on the former UFC lightweight champion on March 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Moicano is replacing Rafael Fiziev, who pulled out of the bout after a recent COVID-19 positive case.
Obviously there was excitement that Makhachev, who just beat Bobby Green in last week’s UFC Vegas 49 main event, would have a rapid turnaround and take on dos Anjos after several previous bookings of that matchup were called off.