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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
Kelvin Gastelum announced Tuesday that he is injured and out of the scheduled UFC Noche co-main event Sept. 16 due to a facial fracture sustained in training. His scheduled opponent was Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Gastelum would have been making his return to welterweight for the first time since 2016 after a run at middleweight, which included an interim title fight loss to Israel Adesanya in 2019. UFC Noche is a UFC Fight Night card that will celebrate Mexican Independence Day. Gastelum is of Mexican descent and spent some of his childhood in the country.
The undefeated Rakhmonov, sources said, is unlikely to stay on the card. The UFC is trying to rebook Rakhmonov vs. Gastelum for UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi, but it’s unclear if Gastelum will be ready that soon.
ESPN has Rakhonov (17-0) ranked No. 7 in the world at welterweight. The Kazakh fighter is 5-0 in the UFC with five finishes.
UFC Noche will be headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between champion Alexa Grasso of Mexico against the women she beat for the belt, Valentina Shevchenko.