UFC Kazakhstan canceled, Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes now in limbo

The upcoming UFC Kazakhstan card in June has been canceled, leaving main event bantamweights Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes in limbo.

UFC Fight Night 177 was set to take place on June 13 at Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The card was set to be headlined by Yan and Moraes, but according to a report from MMAFighting.com, the event had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. That means that Yan and Moraes will now have to be rescheduled to another card.

UFC Kazakhstan was set to mark the promotion’s debut in the country, but the event will have to wait for another day to go down. It’s possible the UFC could try and re-book the event for later this year once the coronavirus pandemic subsides. But given the logistical challenges of holding international events right now, fans in Kazakhstan may have to wait until next year or another year to watch a live UFC event.

Aside from the Yan vs. Moraes bout, there were only a few other matchups that were officially announced for the UFC Kazakhstan event. They were light heavyweight bouts featuring Khadis Ibragimov vs. Roman Dolidze and Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Klidson Abreu, plus a flyweight bout featuring Jordan Espinosa vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov.

All of these fights have been postponed indefinitely. However, the UFC was able to re-book Abreu against Jamahal Hill for the upcoming UFC Jacksonville card on May 23. It’s possible the UFC will look to re-book the other fighters set for this event if they have visas that will allow them to travel to the United States, but the best bet seems to be for these fighters to be re-booked on Dana White’s Fight Island that will house the UFC’s international talent.

What do you think is next for former UFC Kazakhstan headliners Petr Yay and Marlon Moraes?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/4/2020.