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.
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
- Azamat Bekoev vs. TBA
