Mairbek Taisumov has been dealing with some visa issues and has reportedly been pulled from UFC 223, where he was set to fight Evan Dunham in a preliminary card fight.
It was Taisumov who made the announcement via Instagram:
Allegedly replacing Taisumov against Dunham is going to be Olivier Aubin-Mercier.
An announcement was made by Dunham on Twitter about the new opponent, which also led to a response from Aubin-Mercier:
Thanks to @oliaubin for taking this fight. I will see you in the middle. #ufc223
— Evan Dunham (@evandunham155) March 9, 2018
It will be a honor to see you in the middle
— Olivier Aubin (@oliaubin) March 10, 2018
Dunham (18-6-1) has won four of his last five under the UFC banner, but is coming off of a draw against Beneil Dariush at UFC 216. Dunham hasn’t suffered a defeat in over three years and that last loss came to Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 45. Dunham has earned his last four wins by way of decision and it has been over six years since the fight earned a victory via finish.
Aubin-Mercier (10-2-0) enters the fight on the strength of a three bout winning streak, last defeating Tony Martin at UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh. Aubin-Mercier has only suffered two defeats as a pro MMA fighter, with those defeats coming to Chad Laprise and Carlos Diego Ferreira. Aubin-Mercier made it to the finals of the UFC Ultimate Fighter Nations, losing to Chad Laprise in those finals.
UFC 223 takes place on Saturday, April 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
