By Andy Cotterill
MM-EH has learned that there may be an unusual last-minute addition to the Unified MMA 55 fight card, scheduled for January 19th in Toronto…the day before UFC 297 is set to take place in the same city.
A reliable source has told us that Saygid Izagakhmaev (22-2) and Jack Grant (19-7) may become the 10th fight scheduled for that night.
Izagakhmaev is a student of of now retired UFC Lightweight Champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, and his last fight was a victory over legend Shinya Aoki at ONE 163 in November of 2022.
Grant is an English fighter with a huge following who is coming off an armbar win over Ahmad Labban at BRAVE 80 just a month ago.
This fight is unusual because neither fighter is Canadian, have no previous association with Unified, nor have either of them been on any type of radar in the weeks leading up to the event.
MM-EH reached out to Unified to question this rumoured match up, but they have no comment.
One way that this move could make sense, is that earlier this week it was announced that UFC President Dana White would be attending the Unified show with his “Lookin For a Fight,” show, where White watches live fights outside of the UFC and awards a deserving fighter a UFC contract.
An educated guess would be that the addition of Izagakhmaev/Grant would give White a pair of “pre-approved” fighters from whom to select for a contract.
While a match-up like this would no doubt be thrilling to watch and a huge treat to the Unified fans in attendance, it may be disappointing to the remainder of the Canadian fighters if they put on a great performance and don’t get selected.
Izagakhmaev smesh
Fuck yes mate this will be a good one!
this grant guy is going to find out