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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 17: Marvin Vettori of Italy prepares to fight Jared Cannonier in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on June 17, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Marvin Vettori won’t be making the trip to UFC Baku after an injury in training has left him unable to compete.
“The Italian Dream” was set to face “Austrian Wonderboy” Ismail Naurdiev on the second UFC card to be held in Azerbaijan, but a broken rib has forced him to withdraw from the fight. Vettori made a statement via his social media accounts announcing the bad news.
“Unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that a few days ago, I got hurt on my rib,” Vettori said. “I did an MRI, and it came back today showing that the rib is broken. So I won’t be fighting June 27.”
| Marvin Vettori has announced he is OUT of his #UFCBaku fight with Ismail Naurdiev after suffering a broken rib in training camp.pic.twitter.com/vpE5nVKQim
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) May 21, 2026
“I was really looking forward to this fight,” he continued. “Moved from Florida to California for this camp, wanted to get back to my roots … I was feeling good. Sometimes s–t happens and you can’t do nothing about it. So, yeah, now I’m just gonna focus on my recovery. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too long. Four to six weeks, I’m good to train again and then, they reschedule me with the same guy? Great. If not, doesn’t matter. Anybody is good to me.”
Vettori has been going through an extended slump that’s lasted four years. He’s 1-5 in that time with his last win coming against Roman Dolidze back in March 2023. While wins have been eluding him, he’s still proven worthy of watching with two Fight of the Night bonuses coming his way over that period. But a fifth loss in a row would not have been good for the Italian fighter.
UFC Baku is headlined by a lightweight bout between Rafael Fiziev and Manuel Torres, while Shara “Bullet” Magomedov faces Michel Pereira in the co-main event.
As of this moment, the UFC hasn’t made any announcement regarding Ismail Naurdiev staying on the UFC Baku card in just over a month or if they’ll re-book him against Vettori at a later date. Naurdiev is 2-1 in his UFC career and has thus far fought exclusively in the Middle East.
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