Artem Lobov vs. Zubaira Tukhugov Canceled Following UFC 229 Brawl

As expected, Artem Lobov vs. Zubaira Tukhugov has been removed from the UFC Moncton card.

Lobov vs. Tukhugov was initially set to be on the UFC 229 card. The placement was indeed by design as Team McGregor and Team Khabib have been at each other’s throats, so it only made sense to have both fights on the same card. Plans changed as Tukhugov couldn’t be cleared by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in time, so the fight was moved to Oct. 27. Now, Lobov is left without an opponent.

After Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 229, “The Eagle” leaped into the crowd and went after Dillon Danis. This started a brawl and a few of Nurmagomedov’s teammates brawled with McGregor inside the Octagon. One of the teammates was Tukhugov, who actually hit McGregor. Ariel Helwani has confirmed that Tukhugov is out of UFC Moncton:

Confirmed that the Lobov vs. Tukhugov fight in Moncton later this month has been canceled. UFC looking for a new opponent for Lobov. Tukhugov’s status is uncertain.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 11, 2018

Yesterday (Oct. 11), Nurmagomedov sent out a statement threatening to leave the UFC if Tukhugov were to be released. “The Eagle” had gotten word that the UFC was indeed planning to cut his teammate. As of now, there is no official word on Tukhugov’s status with the promotion. Earlier this week, Tukhugov posted a video where he was allegedly bragging about hitting McGregor during the fracas.