Islam Makhachev’s welterweight teammate offers to step in on short notice to save UFC 330 fight

Popular welterweight contender Joel Alvarez has offered to step in on short notice to save the day at UFC 330.

On August 15, the premier MMA promotion returns to Philadelphia for UFC 330, headlined by a welterweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry.

The co-main event will see the women’s strawweight title on the line as Mackenzie Dern looks to make the first defense of her title when she takes on Gillian Robertson.

Despite the top two offerings, though, the rest of the card has come under criticism from the fans, with it being highlighted as one of the weaker numbered events so far this year.

Joel Alvarez offers to step in to save UFC 330 fight

With the event just over two weeks away, now, unfortunately it has recently been hit with several fights falling off the card.

Last week, it was announced that Erin Blanchfield had withdrawn from her fight against Jasmine Jasudavicius, which was a contender fight at flyweight.

And then earlier this week, the card took another big hit when former headliner Geoff Neal pulled out of his scheduled clash against Chidi Njokuani.

Neal and Njokuani competed on the same card this past February, both suffering losses, making their fight an important one for both of their careers.

And now just a day removed from Neal’s withdrawal, fellow welterweight contender Joel Alvarez has offered to step in on short notice to fight ‘Chidi Bang’.

‘El Fenomeno’ made his welterweight debut last October after years of suffering issues making 155lbs, beating Vicente Luque in his 170lb debut.

He then suffered a brutal loss this past May when he took on Yaroslav Amosov at UFC 328, suffering a submission loss in the second round.

Not only does the fight make a lot of sense for the Spaniard to return to the win column, but he has been staying somewhat prepared for the August 15 date.

Alvarez has been a key part of Islam Makhachev’s fight camp after having been drafted in by the champion to help him prepare for Ian Machado Garry.

Now, it is down to Njokuani to decide whether he wants to remain on the card and accept Alvarez’s short notice offer to save a fight on the card.