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Mairbek Taisumov’s loss is Olivier Aubin-Mercier’s gain.
The promising Taisumov ended up off UFC 223 after visa issues derailed his fight against Evan Dunham on April 7th. Luckily for Dunham, Aubin-Mercier will step in and the lightweight fight will go on.
Both Dunham and Aubin-Mercier went ahead and revealed the replacement bout on social media.
My fight is off with @Taisumov155 due to visa issues. New fight accouncement soon. Time to pivot and adjust but no worries I will be ready.
— Evan Dunham (@evandunham155) March 9, 2018
Thanks to @oliaubin for taking this fight. I will see you in the middle. #ufc223
— Evan Dunham (@evandunham155) March 9, 2018
Happy to annonced that I'll fight Evan Dunham april 7 at UFC 223 : Ferguson vs Khabib in Brooklyn.
— Olivier Aubin (@oliaubin) March 11, 2018
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Heureux d'annoncer que je me battrai contre Evan Dunham le 7 avril au UFC 223 : Ferguson vs Khabib à Brooklyn.#ufc223 #ufc #brooklyn #ufcbrooklyn pic.twitter.com/7gxDgBJULe
Aubin-Mercier is on a three fight win streak and 6-2 in the UFC overall. His last win came back in September of 2017 in a split decision win over Tony Martin. Dunham had a four fight win streak from 2015 and 2016 ended when his last fight with Beneil Dariush ended as a majority draw. Both fighters are looking to force their way up into the extremely packed top ten at lightweight, and while a win won’t propel either fighter there it will get them right onto the doorstep.
UFC 223 is a pretty stacked card with Tony Ferguson vs. Khbib Nurmagomedov fighting for Conor McGregor’s soon-to-be-stripped lightweight title and Rose Namajunas defending her women’s strawweight belt against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Dunham vs. Aubin-Mercier will be a part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of the broadcast.
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