Khaos Williams was briefly without an opponent for next week’s UFC 316.
Williams (15-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) was originally scheduled to face Uros Medic at the event (ESPN+ pay-per-view) on June 7 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. However, Medic publicly announced his withdrawal from the fight due to a sinus infection. Luckily for Williams, things moved quickly in a search for a replacement welterweight opponent.
Stepping in for Medic will be UFC newcomer Albert Tadevosyan. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two sources following a first report from Eurosport NL’s Marcel Dorff.
Williams will look to get back into the win column against an eager debutant. In his last outing, Williams suffered a submission loss against Gabriel Bonfim, halting the momentum of back-to-back victories against Rolando Bedoya and Carlston Harris. Williams has earned bonuses for all four of his UFC stoppage victories, which makes for an interesting dynamic against his new opponent, who is a proven finisher on the regional scene.
Tadevosyan (13-3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his UFC debut on very short notice. The 33-year-old welterweight is currently on a six-fight winning streak, which consists of five first-round finishes – the other was a second-round stoppage. Eleven of Tadevosyan’s professional victories have come by knockout or submission.
Latest UFC 316 lineup
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley – for bantamweight title
- Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison – for women’s bantamweight title
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer
- Mario Bautista vs. Patchy Mix
- Kevin Holland vs. Vicente Luque
- Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van
- Azamat Murzakanov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Serghei Spivac
- Albert Tadevosyan vs. Khaos Williams
- Wang Cong vs. Ariane da Silva
- Jeka Saragih vs. Joo Sang Yoo
- Yanal Ashmouz vs. Quillan Salkilld
