Phumi Nkuta has replaced Muhammad Mokaev on the ronda rousey vs. gina carano card after visa delays pushed Mokaev out of his scheduled bout with Adriano Moraes. The change lands on Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA event, where one preliminary-card fight shifted without touching the main event.
Most Valuable Promotions announced the switch on Saturday, and the new pairing is set at 130 pounds. The Moraes-Nkuta bout remains on the six-fight preliminary card, which means the card keeps its depth even as one matchup changes late.
Adriano Moraes Gets Nkuta
Phumi Nkuta enters at 11-0 and comes off a March decision win over Namiki Kawahara to capture the A1 Combat flyweight title. For Moraes, the matchup now becomes his first fight since ending an 18-fight run with ONE Championship, a reset that already had attention attached to it before the opponent change.
Moraes also brings a rare reference point: he went through a trilogy with Demetrious Johnson at ONE Championship, winning the first fight by second-round knockout before Johnson took the next two. That record gives this replacement bout more weight than a typical late-notice swap, because the opponent on the other side now has a proven finishing history and a clean record.
Six-Fight Card Around Rousey
MVP’s first MMA event is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano and also includes a welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. The card still has name value at the top, but the Mokaev withdrawal shows how quickly a lineup can change when travel and visa issues cut into a fighter’s availability.
For readers tracking the event, the practical takeaway is simple: the Moraes fight survived, but it will look different and at a catchweight of 130 pounds. Nkuta gets a fast track onto one of the card’s featured prelim spots, and Moraes still gets the assignment that matters most now — adapting to a new opponent on short notice.
