UFC on ESPN 71 has lost its main event and gained a new one.
With Amir Albazi out due to injury, his Aug. 2 headliner vs. Tatsuro Taira is off.
Taira (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will remain on the card against Hyun Sung Park as he looks to bounce back from his first career defeat, a split decision loss to Brandon Royval in October.
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Park (10-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) steps up into a massive opportunity to headline against one of the division’s top fighters in just his fourth UFC fight. He won Road to UFC in 2023 with a knockout of Seung Guk Choi. He then finished Shannon Ross with strikes and Carlos Hernandez with a rear-naked choke.
It’s unclear the specifics of the injury to Albazi (17-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who hasn’t competed since a November 2024 loss to Brandon Moreno.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 71 lineup includes:
Tatsuro Taira vs. Hyun Sung Park
Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rebecki
Elves Brener vs. Esteban Ribovics
Nora Cornolle vs. Karol Rosa
Neil Magny vs. Elizeu Zaleski
Danny Silva vs. Kevin Vallejos
Nick Klein vs. Andrey Pulayev
Nathan Fletcher vs. Rinya Nakamura
Tresean Gore vs. Rodolfo Vieira
Felipe Bunes vs. Rafael Estevam
Piera Rodriguez vs. Ketlen Souza
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC announces new main event five days before card after injury