The Rat team, represented by Kopylov, announced that his fight against American Josh Fremd, scheduled for June 17, has been canceled, and the Russian will hold his next fight on July 29 at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City. The reasons for the cancellation of the fight, as well as the name of the new opponent, were not disclosed.
32-year-old Roman Kopylov scored his second straight stoppage victory in the organization in January, finishing with a TKO in the second round of American Punahily Soriano. Four months earlier, the Russian fighter knocked out the Italian Alessio Di Chirico, thereby closing two defeats in confrontations with Karl Roberson and Albert Duraev.