Romanian light heavyweight Nicolae Negumereanu will make his UFC debut later this month.
Negumereanu’s reps at Moments Sports Management recently announced their client has stepped in to replace an injured Gokhan Saki at UFC on ESPN+ 5, which takes place March 16 and streams live on ESPN+ from The O2 in London. MMAjunkie subsequently confirmed the booking with UFC officials.
Negumereanu (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets Saparbeg Safarov (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) on the night’s preliminary card.
Negumereanu made his professional debut in October 2016 and has since rattled off nine consecutive victories, all earned by stoppage. While Negumereanu has earned six of his victories via knockout, his past two wins have each come via submission.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Safarov was undefeated before making his UFC debut but has had a tough time in his octagon run, suffering losses to Tyson Pedro and Gian Villante. Safarov also has yet to see a fight go to the judges in his professional career.
With the addition to the card, UFC on ESPN+5 now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Leon Edwards vs. Gunnar Nelson
- Volkan Oezdemir vs. Dominick Reyes
- Jose Quinonez vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Danny Roberts vs. Claudio Silva
- Jack Marshman vs. John Phillips
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 1 p.m. ET)
- Arnold Allen vs. Jordan Rinaldi
- Marc Diakiese vs. Joseph Duffy
- Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Saparbeg Safarov
- Tom Breese vs. Ian Heinisch
- Danny Henry vs. Dan Ige
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Molly McCann
- Mike Grundy vs. Nad Narimani
For more on UFC on ESPN+ 5, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
