League officials officially announced that Umalatov would be replaced by American Solomon Renfroe, who has one win outside of the grand prix this season, a second-round knockout of Jarrah Al-Silawi.
There is no word on the reasons that forced the Russian to withdraw from the bout. It should be noted that last year Magomed Umalatov and his compatriot Denis Goltsov were eliminated from the semifinals of the PFL Grand Prix due to problems with their British visas.
The 2018 PFL champion, Magomed Magomedkerimov, entered the current season’s playoffs from first place in the group, finishing Ben Egli and David Zavada by technical knockout in the first rounds.
Magomed Umalatov finished in fourth place at the end of the group stage, knocking out Dilano Taylor and winning by decision over Nib Lopez Miranda.