Slim Trabelsi has signed with the UFC and will make his debut next month.
Hamdy Abdelwahab has been forced out of UFC 280 and Trabelsi (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step in to face Parker Porter (13-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
A person with knowledge of his removal from the card told MMA Junkie his withdrawal is for a non-injury reason. ESPN was first to report the news of the booking.
Tunisia’s Trabelsi, a former amateur wrestler, has trained with the likes of UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and former interim champ Ciryl Gane at MMA Factory Paris. Just 10 days ago, Trabelsi remained unbeaten when he finished Azamat Nuftillaev in the second round to claim the vacant ARES FC heavyweight title.
Slim Trabelsi is the @ARES_Fighting heavyweight champion! 👑
[ #ARES8 | 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪 | on #UFCFIGHTPASS ] pic.twitter.com/QhMIE0S4X4
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 2, 2022
Porter, 37, will look to bounce back from a first-round submission loss to Jailton Almeida in May. The defeat snapped a three-fight winning streak of victories over Josh Parisian, Chase Sheman and Alan Baudot.
With the change, the UFC 280 lineup includes:
- Champion Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev – for lightweight title
- Champion Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw
- Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan
- Sean Brady vs. Belal Muhammad
- Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot
- Amanda Lemos vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Lucas Almeida vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
- Katlyn Chookagian vs. Manon Fiorot
- Caio Borralho vs. Makhmud Muradov
- Malcolm Gordon vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Nikita Krylov vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
- A.J. Dobson vs. Armen Petrosyan
- Lina Lansberg vs. Karol Rosa
- Parker Porter vs. Slim Trabelsi
