Islam Makhachev has been pulled from UFC 233, replacing him against Francisco Trinaldo is going to be Alexander Hernandez.
Makhachev would take to Instagram to comment on the news first reported by Combate:
Here is wrote Makhachev wrote, provided by Google Translate:
"I didn’t understand what happened at the UFC themselves and canceled this fight, I didn’t sign any official papers. _ I plan to fight somewhere in February with a rival from the Top-15 as promised by Dana White."
Trinaldo (23-6-0) has rotated wins and losses in his last five UFC appearances, with the latest fight being a second round knockout victory over Evan Dunham at UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo. Trinaldo has suffered six losses as a professional MMA fighter and five of those defeats have come under the UFC banner. Trinaldo is competing on a UFC pay-per-view card for the first time in over two years, with his last such appearance coming at UFC 198 in May of 2016.
Hernandez (10-1-0) is currently undefeated under the UFC banner, having defeated the duo of Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Beneil Dariush. Hernandez has suffered just a single defeat as a professional MMA fighter and that came against Jamall Emmers at Hero FC: Pride Of The Valley 2. Hernandez has picked up eight wins as a professional MMA fighter, with eight of them coming by a mixture of KO/TKO and decision.
UFC 233 takes place on Saturday, January 26 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
