Octagon champion Felipe Lima steps in against Muhammad Naimov at UFC Saudi Arabia

UFC Saudi Arabia’s beleaguered card saw another bump fight, with Oktagon MMA bantamweight champion Felipe Lima stepping in with just under a week to go to replace Melsik Baghdasaryan.

Baghdasaryan was the originally scheduled opponent for Muhammad Naimov, who will now face Lima on Saturday. The fight is expected to be contested at featherweight.

News of the switch was first reported by Marcel Dorff from Eurosport. Oktagon officials confirmed to Cageside Press that Lima, their bantamweight champion, has been released by the company, per the terms of his contract. An update on future plans for the promotion’s bantamweight title is expected soon.

Lima (12-1) defeated Jonas Magard in July 2023 to capture the Octagon bantamweight crown. He was expected to face Magard for a second time in a rematch next month, a fight that will no longer take place when Lima signs a deal with the UFC.

Brazilian Lima, 26, has not lost a fight since his professional debut in 2015, which remains his first and only professional defeat.

Muhammad Naimov (11-2) is on a three-fight winning streak since joining the UFC and has won six overall. He hasn’t lost since back-to-back losses in 2020/21 outside of the UFC.

UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22, 2024 marks the promotion’s debut in the Kingdom. Just days ago, the card suffered a major blow when it was revealed that Khamzat Chimaev had been forced out of his middleweight bout with former champion Robert Whittaker. Chimaev was later replaced by Ikram Aliskerov.

With Lima stepping in against Naimov, the card currently features the following reported bouts:

• Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Sergey Pavlovich against Alexander Volkov
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
• Sharabutdin Magomedov vs Joilton Lutterbach
• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Nicolas Dalby
• Kang Kyung-ho vs. Muin Gafurov
• Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Xiao Long vs. Lee Chang-ho
• Cedriques Dumas vs Denis Tiuliulin
• Muhammad Naimov vs. Felipe Lima