“Capoeira” beat Alexey Kunchenko in the final bout of his contract with the UFC back in March, and signed a new four-fight deal with the company to face Muslim Salikhov at Abu Dhabi’s UFC 251 on July 11, sources told MMA Fighting. Combate first reported the matchup.
Salikhov (16-2) won 14 of his last 15 fights since 2013. “King of Kung Fu” enters the first “Fight Island” card coming off three straight UFC victories over Ricky Rainey, Nordine Taleb and Laureano Staropoli.
Zaleski (22-6) only lost once since 2016, a run that includes eight octagon wins.