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
