Alessio Di Chirico vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan booked for UFC on ESPN 30 after opponents withdraw
Abdul Razak Alhassan and Alessio Di Chirico are leaning on each other to make the best of a bad situation.
After both of their original opponents withdrew from UFC on ESPN 30, Alhassan and Di Chirico have agreed to square off in a middleweight bout at the Aug. 28 event in Las Vegas. Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie on Saturday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Alhassan (10-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) was supposed to fight Antonio Braga Neto, while Di Chirico (13-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC) had been set to meet promotional newcomer Aliaskhab Khizriev, but now they’ll fight each other.
Alhassan has hit a rough patch in his career since returning from a nearly two-year layoff, having lost three fights in a row. He most recently dropped a unanimous decision to Jacob Malkoun in April.
Di Chirico, meanwhile, most recently snapped a three-fight losing streak with a head-kick knockout of Joaquin Buckley this past January.
The updated UFC on ESPN 30 lineup includes:
Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze
Bryan Battle vs. Gilbert Urbina
Brady Hiestand vs. Ricky Turcios
Kevin Lee vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Michael Gillmore vs. Andre Petroski
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Makhmud Muradov
Sam Alvey vs. Wellington Turman
Dustin Jacoby vs. Darren Stewart
JJ Aldrich vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
Jamall Emmers vs. Pat Sabatini
Guido Cannetti vs. Mana Martinez
Joselyne Edwards vs. Zarah Fairn
Kevin Croom vs. Marcelo Rojo
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Alessio Di Chirico