With both men losing their original opponents, Ion Cutelaba is expected to face Ovince Saint Preux on April 25.
Cutelaba (15-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) was scheduled to face Magomed Ankalaev for a second time at UFC 249 on Apr. 18, but Ankalaev is currently stuck in Russia due to the travel ban imposed amid the coronavirus outbreak, and as a result is currently frozen out of their planned rematch.
Meanwhile Saint-Preux (24-13 MMA, 13-8 UFC), who was booked to face Shamil Gamzatov at UFC on ESPN+ 31, also lost his opponent due to travel restrictions, so Cutelaba will now face Saint Preux on that card instead. MMA Junkie verified the targeted matchup after an initial report from MMA Fighting.
Cutelaba was hoping to run things back with Ankalaev after he was controversially stopped just 38 seconds into the first round at UFC on ESPN+ 27. Prior to that, Cutelaba had claimed a first-round finish of Khalil Rountree.
In his most recent outing, Saint Preux snapped a two-fight losing streak as he used his go-to submission technique, the “Von Flue/Von Preux” choke to defeat Michal Oleksiejczuk last September.
The location for the event is yet to be announced but is expected to be headlined by Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira.
