Zaleski’s coach, Cristiano Marcello, has stated that UFC Vegas 74 will be Zaleski’s first fight in the cage in over 20 months, against Abubakar Nurmagomedov. The main event of the evening, which will take place on June 3 at the UFC APEX, will feature a middleweight fight between Jack Hermansson and Brendan Allen.
“I’m looking forward to Elizeu’s return,” Marcello told MMA Fighting. “He collects bonuses in the UFC and I’ve never seen him in a boring fight. I’m sure he’s coming back with guns blazing. It’s a tough fight, but he’s ready.”
After a positive test for ostarine in 2022, Zaleski was given a one-year suspension by USADA and a nine-month sanction by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Zaleski’s record stood at 23-7 throughout this time. His team stated at the time that they were able to prove that a supplement had been tainted, but in the end, they were given a punishment due to the fact that the Brazilian pharmacy refused to concede guilt.
Zaleski’s most recent bout took place in October 2021 at UFC 267, when he easily defeated Benoit Saint-Denis by unanimous decision. This was Zaleski’s comeback fight after suffering a narrow loss to Muslim Salikhov through the decision in his previous bout. Zaleski is a lifelong UFC veteran who has won nine of his most recent 11 bouts inside the octagon. His victories include ones against notable competitors such as Max Griffin, Sean Strickland, and Alexey Kunchenko.
In the UFC, Nurmagomedov, cousin of former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, is 2-1 with victories over Jared Gooden and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev and a defeat to David Zawada in his debut.