Nazim Sadykhov and Jefferson Nascimento were scheduled to fight at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden. Neither one will.
Nascimento withdrew first with an injury. Sadykhov then pulled out as well, revealing he had been dealing with his own injury from early in camp for more than five weeks.
He Had Been Fighting Through It the Whole Time
That detail is the one worth sitting with. Sadykhov knew he was hurt five weeks ago and kept training anyway, because fighters do not volunteer to lose a Madison Square Garden payday.
Once his opponent fell out, the calculus changed. According to Sherdog’s report, Sadykhov asked the UFC not to find a replacement rather than take a short-notice opponent while compromised.
His own update was characteristically upbeat: “Good news is I won’t need any surgeries or prolonged recoveries.” That is the best possible version of this news, and it suggests a return in the first half of 2027 rather than a long layoff.
This Mattered More for Sadykhov
Sadykhov is 11-3-1 and was unbeaten in his first five UFC appearances, which made him one of the more interesting lightweight prospects on the roster. He has now lost two straight by TKO.
A fighter on a two-fight losing streak needs a win, and he needs it against the right opponent. Nascimento, 13-1 with his only professional loss coming in his UFC debut in June, was exactly that kind of matchup: a dangerous but beatable name whose record would look good on a comeback.
Instead Sadykhov waits, and the next fight carries more pressure than this one would have. Three straight losses is where the UFC starts making roster decisions.
The Right Call Anyway
Taking a replacement opponent on three weeks’ notice while hurt, on a two-fight skid, at Madison Square Garden, is how a fighter turns a bad stretch into an unrecoverable one. Sadykhov choosing not to is the decision that protects his career even though it costs him now.
For UFC 334, losing a lightweight bout from a numbered card in New York is an inconvenience rather than a crisis. The matchmakers have six weeks to fill the slot, and there is never a shortage of lightweights looking for a Garden debut.
Both fighters should be back. Nascimento has one loss in 14 fights and a long career in front of him. Sadykhov has a harder road and a healthier body to walk it with.
It is worth noting how often this happens and how rarely anyone accounts for it. Fight cards get built three months out, and the attrition rate between announcement and fight night is brutal. Two fighters withdrawing from the same bout in the same week is unusual only in its symmetry.
Madison Square Garden cards sell themselves regardless. UFC 334 will be fine. The two lightweights who lost their spot on it are the ones paying for this.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.