The UFC’s first card of 2022 has taken a hit.
Joaquin Buckley (13-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (11-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is off UFC on ESPN 32 on Jan. 15 after Alhassan withdrew for undisclosed reasons. There is a tentative plan to reschedule the bout, but a new date has not yet been finalized.
Two people with knowledge of the situation recently informed MMA Junkie of the cancellation but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Buckley, owner of one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, was able to bounce back from his knockout loss to Alessio Di Chirico with another “Performance of the Night” finish when he came from behind to starch Antonio Arroyo in the third round at UFC Fight Night 192 in September.
In his past outing in August, Alhassan snapped a three-fight losing skid with a blistering 17-second head kick knockout of Di Chirico at UFC on ESPN 30. All five of Alhassan’s octagon wins have come by first-round stoppage.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 32 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze
- Michel Pereira vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia
- Rogerio Bontorin vs. Brandon Royval
- Jake Collier vs. Chase Sherman
- Gabriel Benitez vs. TJ Brown
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito
- Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Court McGee
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Dakota Bush
- Saidyokub Kakhramonov vs. Brian Kelleher
- Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez
- Joseph Holmes vs. Jamie Pickett
