Just one weeks before his scheduled fight with Chris Wade, Mairbek Taisumov has reportedly had to pull out of the bout, and in steps RFA lightweight champion Mehdi Baghdad to replace him.
RFA Champion to face Chris Wade on one-weeks notice at UFC Boston
The replacement bout was initially reported by Long Island MMA on Facebook. They also shared it via Twitter in a tweet retweeted by Chris Wade.
Baghdad (11-3) is the current RFA lightweight champion after beating Zach Juusola in December of 2014 to win the vacant title. Following his title win, Baghdad joined Team Europe on The Ultimate Fighter 22 lead by Conor McGregor after defeating McGregor teammate Artem Lobov. Baghdad was then defeated by Julian Erosa via Majority Decision. He was set to fight David Castillo in a title fight at RFA 35 next month.
Wade (10-1) fights out of Long Island MMA and is a perfect 3-0 since joining the UFC in late-2014 as Ring of Combat lightweight champion. He debuted in the UFC by submitting Cain Carrizosa and followed it up with two unanimous decision victories over Christos Giagos and Lipeng Zhang.
The fight will take place on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 81, also known as; UFC Boston.
UFC Boston takes place at the TD Garden on January 17 and will be headlined by a highly-anticipated bantamweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and former champion Dominick Cruz. The co-main event features an important lightweight contest between former champion Anthony Pettis and former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez. Also on the card; heavyweights Matt Mitrione and Travis Browne.
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