UFC 308 will feature a welterweight showdown between Rinat Fakretdinov and Nursulton Ruzhiboev.
Both fighters confirmed the bout on social media after it was first reported by Marcel Dolf. UFC 308 takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 26 and will also feature a heavyweight bout between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov.
According to Fakretdinov, the booking wasn’t ideal for either fighter.
“Please know that I and Nursultan were against this match,” Fakletdinov wrote on Instagram (via translation). “This match does not benefit anyone. To be clear, we did everything we could to prevent this match, but we are just warriors. Don’t throw stones at us, because the league always has the final say. The situation is like this, the league decided for us. But nothing changes. We were friends with Nursultan, we will remain friends and I will go and meet him for pilaf after the match (hopefully he will invite me).”
UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad, Saturday at 10 PM ET on ESPN+. Order now! The Moscow native is undefeated in his first five bouts in the Octagon, with the only blemish coming in a draw against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in November 2023. In his last bout, “The Gladiator” won a split decision over Nicolas Dalby to improve his career record to 22-1-1 with one draw.
Meanwhile, Ruzhiboev’s 10-fight professional win streak was ended on May 11 when he lost a unanimous decision to Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 56. The Kazakhstan native began his promotional career with consecutive first-round knockouts of Bruno Ferreira and Cedriques Dumas.
