Elizeu Zaleski withdraws from UFC Vegas 51 fight with Mounir Lazzez due to personal reasons
UFC Vegas 51 will no longer feature the welterweight match-up between Elizeu Zaleski and Mounir Lazzez.
Just five days before UFC Vegas 51, Elizeu Zaleski is reportedly pulling out of the fight against Mounir Lazzez due to personal reasons. Two confidential sources informed MMA Junkie of the news and asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has not publicly made any official announcements yet.
While Lazzez is expected to remain on the card, it’s unclear if the UFC will find a replacement for him. It’s the second fight to be scrapped from the card after the originally scheduled co-main event between Uriah Hall and Andre Muniz was lost. Hall pulled out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons and the fight was canceled as no suitable replacement was found for Muniz to compete with.
Zaleski is one and one in his last two outings. He was coming off a dominant victory over Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi after losing a controversial split decision in the previous bout against Muslim Salikhov.
Lazzez was looking to start competing again as he has been on the sidelines since his last bout in January last year when he lost to Warlley Alves via TKO in the UAE. He was expected to fight Niklas Stolze in July 2021 but had to withdraw due to visa issues.
UFC Vegas 51: Vicente vs Luque
UFC Vegas 51 will take place at the UFC Apex arena this Saturday, April 16. The main card is headlined by a rematch between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad with Caio Borralho facing off against Gadzhi Omargadzhiev in the new co-main event of the night.
With Elizeu Zaleski pulling out, the updated main card for UFC Vegas 51 stands as follows:
- Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
- Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
- Mounir Lazzez vs. TBA
- Brandon Jenkins vs. Drakkar Klose
- Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson
- Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
- Pannie Kianzad vs. Lina Lansberg
- TJ Laramie vs. Pat Sabatini
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Wu Yanan
- Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden
- Sam Hughes vs. Istela Nunes
- Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho
- Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom
- Devin Clark vs. William Knight
