Rustam Khabilov says he's off London's UFC Fight Night 127 lineup

Next month’s UFC Fight Night 127 lineup has lost a fighter.

Lightweight contender Rustam Khabilov (22-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) today announced he’s been forced off the card and out of his bout with Kajan Johnson (22-11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

Khabilov made the announcement via Instagram and cited a knee injury:

? ????????? ??? ??? ??????????, ???? ? ??????? ???????, ??? ????????? ???? ???????? ?? ????, ???????? ??????? ??????? ? ?????-???????! ??????? ??????? ????????? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ????! @kertibiev

A post shared by Rustam_khabilov (@rustam_khabilov) on Feb 8, 2018 at 12:29am PST

From Google Translate:

Unfortunately, my fight is canceled, a sight with a knee injury, as the trouble comes not one comes, I had to remove menisci and Baker cyst! Thanks to Viktor Petrovich for taking on me! @kertibiev

UFC officials haven’t made a formal announcement, though there’s ample time to find a replacement opponent for Johnson.

UFC Fight Night 127 takes place March 17 at The O2 in London. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass, though the full fight card and bout order haven’t been finalized.

Khabilov, a 31-year-old Russian fighter from Dagestan, looked to extend his current five-fight winning streak. All of the M-1 and ONE Championship vet’s victories, including recent ones over Jason Saggo and Desmond Green, came via decision.

Johnson, a 33-year-old Canadian, is riding a three-fight winning streak following a recent knockout victory over Adriano Martins. The win came after a two-year layoff.

The latest UFC Fight Night 127 card includes:

• Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov
• Leon Edwards vs. Peter Sobotta
• Mark Godbeer vs. Dmitry Poberezhets
• Magomed Ankalaev vs. Paul Craig
• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Alex Reyes
• Jan Blachowicz vs. Jimi Manuwa
• Kajan Johnson vs. TBA
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Jack Marshman
• Oliver Enkamp vs. Danny Roberts
• Hakeem Dawodu vs. Danny Henry
• Charles Byrd vs. John Phillips

For more on UFC Fight Night 127, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.