Guram Kutateladze wants to make sure people know it wasn’t an injury that pulled him out of UFC on ESPN 45.
Kutateladze was unable to obtain his U.S. visa in time, forcing him to withdraw from his fight against Jamie Mullarkey (16-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He was replaced by Dana White’s Contender Series alum Muhammad Naimov (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
Kutateladze (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) explained his situation in an Instagram post and said his next fight is already in the works.
“Fight Update: I did not pull out from the fight, I was pulled due to visa complications. Ready and prepared for fight with anybody. Fight date is being worked on as we speak. (Upcoming weeks, we are back). Stop speculation. Thanks for understanding. God bless.
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On the video preparing together with my brother @khamzat_chimaev.”
Kutateladze has withdrawn from four of his past five scheduled UFC bouts. The Georgian fighter has competed just twice since signing with the UFC in 2020 – a win over Mateusz Gamrot in his debut and a split decision loss to Damir Ismagulov last June.
UFC on ESPN 45 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45
