One of the most-hyped fighters on the current season of Dana White's Contender Series has a new opponent.
Deemed by some as the "uncrowned king" of ONE Championship, Akbar Abdullaev will still compete for a contract at DWCS 92, only he'll do so against Brazil's Ednilson Santos rather than his original opponent, Anthony Figueroa, who withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The lightweight bout takes place on the Sept. 15 card at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
The promotion announced the new booking at the tail-end of Tuesday's DWCS 91 broadcast.
Kyrgyzstan's Abdullaev (13-0) allegedly split from ONE in the spring. Abdullaev is deemed "the uncrowned champion" by fans, as he defeated champion Tang Kai by fifth-round TKO stoppage but failed the hydration test,
making him title-ineligible. Abdullaev has a 100 percent finishing rate through 13 professional fights with 12 knockouts and one submission.
Santos (14-7-1) steps in on one week's notice, though he was preparing for an Oct. 23 bout vs. UFC alum Joe Giannetti at LFA 244. Santos most recently competed in May and defeated DWCS alum Shaheen Santana (9-7) by unanimous decision. He trains under Alex Pereira's trainer, Plinio Cruz, at Cruz MMA in Nutley, N.J.
Updated DWCS 92 lineup includes:
- Zevan Hunt vs. Mayton Perea
- Igor Cavalcanti vs. Oscar Revello
- Akbar Abdullaev vs. Anthony Figueroa
- Hugo Guillon vs. Luis Hernandez
- Antonio Monteiro vs. Tyshawn Williams
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 'Uncrowned champion' of ONE Akbar Abdullaev gets new opponent for DWCS
