Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov had a bit of a hiccup in their plans. They were set to duke it out a few months ago, but life had other ideas.
Brown (17-5) and Salikhov (19-4) were all geared up for a welterweight showdown at UFC 296 in 2023. But then, Brown got sick. He ended up in the hospital a day before the event. Naturally, he had to bow out of the fight.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC for short, decided to keep the matchup alive. They didn’t want to give them different opponents. So, they decided to reschedule the fight for Feb. 3. ESPN spilled the beans about the bout on Thursday. Not long after, the UFC confirmed that the fight would be part of UFC Fight Night 235 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Brown’s last fight was a unanimous decision win against Wellington Turman in June 2023. That victory put him back on the winning track. Before that, he was on a roll with a four-fight winning streak. But then, Jack Della Maddalena made him tap out in the first round at UFC 284. During his winning streak, Brown had defeated fighters like Kalinn Williams and Francisco Trinaldo.
Salikhov, on the other hand, has been out of the ring since June. He’s hoping to bounce back after a decision loss to Nicolas Dalby at UFC on ESPN 47. Despite the loss, Salikhov did have a spectacular win in 2022. He knocked out Andre Fialho with a spinning wheel kick. But since joining the UFC in 2017, Salikhov has had his share of setbacks, including injuries, illnesses, and opponent withdrawals. He’s been in the ring less than twice a year on average.
UFC Fight Night 235 is shaping up to be a big event. The main event will be a face-off between top-ranked middleweights Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov. The co-main event will feature a fight between top-15 lightweight fighters Renato Carneiro and Drew Dober. The fight card has seen a few changes recently. Charles Johnson will now fight Azat Maksum at flyweight, while Pete Rodriguez steps in for a 170-pound fight against Themba Gorimbo.