Kelvin Gastelum is no longer fighting at Noche UFC on September 12 in Glendale, Arizona. The former Ultimate Fighter winner is out for unknown reasons. His opponent, Yousri Belgaroui, already has a new opponent to take on in the middleweight division.
Djorden Santos takes the fight on short notice and replaces Kelvin Gastelum. Multiple sources have confirmed the fight to Heavy.com after an initial report from Brazilian journalist Leo Guimarães. The middleweight match-up is part of the preliminary card in the Desert Diamond Arena.
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Yousri Belgaroui is making his third appearance inside the UFC. The Dutchman got signed to the UFC last year. He fought on the Contender Series twice. He lost his first fight, but he came back a year later, winning his second fight, but wasn’t able to convince UFC President Dana White to sign him. Belgaroui, who trains with former UFC champions Glover Teixeira and Alex Pereira, took his opportunity last year in Edmonton by finishing the betting favorite Azamat Bekoev by TKO.
Earlier this year, he was the underdog again in the fight against the then-undefeated Mansur Abdul-Malik. Belgaroui dominated the fight and finished the American fighter via TKO. He was supposed to take on the biggest test of his career in Kelvin Gastelum, but now has to fight Djorden Santos.
In Search Of A Second Win
Santos came into the UFC through the Contender Series. The Brazilian fighter won in 2024 against Will Currie and came into that fight as an underdog. UFC President Dana White seemed on the fence but gave Santos his UFC contract. In his debut, he dropped a close decision to Ozzy Diaz. And that was a fight where Santos was a favorite. Santos wasn’t happy with the result and made the decision to drop down in weight and proceed at welterweight.
At the end of last year, he had a successful debut in the weight class, defeating Danny Barlow after three rounds by unanimous decision. Unfortunately for Santos, he got matched up in his most recent fight against the highly touted Baisangur Susurkaev. Santos lost via rear-naked choke submission in the third round. Now he takes on Yousri Belgaroui on short notice and looks to get his second win inside the UFC.
Noche UFC – Glendale (September 12th)
Main Card
- Yair Rodríguez vs. Jean Silva
- Brandon Moreno vs. Joseph Morales
- Tommy McMillen vs. Marwan Rahiki
- Manon Fiorot vs. Alexa Grasso
- Waldo Cortes Acosta vs. Curtis Blaydes
- David Martínez vs. Dan Ige
Preliminary Card
- Tim Elliott vs. Edgár Cháirez
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Yousri Belgaroui vs. Djorden Santos
- Rafa Garcia vs. Rongzhu
- JJ Aldrich vs. Regina Tarin
- Drakkar Klose vs. Tommy Gantt
- Ramiro Jímenez vs. Rodrigo Vera
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