UFC 284: Joshua Culibao Set to Face Melsik Baghdasaryan
Another Australian in Joshua Culibao is added to UFC 284 PPV card in Perth in February 2023.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that Joshua Culibao(10-1-1) will face Armenia’s Melsik Baghdasaryan(7-1) in a featherweight bout. UFC confirmed the bout later through its Australia New Zealand Twitter account.
Culibao got his first UFC Fight just before COVID-19 pandemic when he replaced teammate Jamie Mullarkey to face Jalin Turner at a Fight Night event in Auckland, NZ. He stepped in on a 10-days notice, and lost on his debut via second-round TKO. However, this move got his foot “inside the door” as he was called back for another Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi later that year.
Culibao got a split draw against Charles Jourdain in Abu Dhabi in October 2020 before defeating Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in May 2021 and Seung Woo Choi at UFC 275 in Singapore in June this year. The loss to Turner remains the only one in his MMA career.
Nicknamed “The Gun”, Melsik Baghdasaryan had 4 straight knockout wins in a total of 62 seconds time inside the cage before he arrived to Dana White Contender Series in 2020. A win over Dennis Buzukja earned the Armenian a contract with UFC. He has since defeated Collin Anglin and Bruno Souza since then.
Baghdasaryan pulled out of two scheduled bouts in 2022 due to a hand injury. But, he will now return to face Joshua Culibao at UFC 284 on February 12, 2023(February 11 EST time).
UFC 284 card already has two big Australian names on the card. Robert Whittaker will take on Paulo Costa on the main card. Parker Porter vs Justin Tafa and Jack Jenkins vs Don Shainis bouts were also made official by UFC today.
In the main event, UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is expected to face Islam Makachev for Lightweight Championship in a bid to become a double champion.
