Magomed Zaynukov is reportedly headed back to the cage on January 16, when he is set to face Piero Guaylupo on the UFC Fight Night 296 card in Dallas. The matchup has been reported by one MMA outlet and later confirmed by another, but the UFC has not yet made it official.
That matters because the January 16 card will open the UFC's 2027 campaign at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and it is shaping up as a return fight for Zaynukov after a stretch on the sidelines. He told Okko MMA that a fight had been set, even if the date had not been locked in, and said he was back in preparation after surgery and only now getting back into the swing of things.
Zaynukov also said the UFC would announce the bout once everything was official, which leaves the matchup in a familiar half-light: public enough to spread, but not yet on the promotion's books. That uncertainty is part of the story. It follows a previous link to Manoel Sousa at UFC Qatar in November 2026, a fight Zaynukov said never got as far as a signed contract because he was still recovering from injury.
The numbers give the bout some of its weight. Zaynukov is 9-0 after beating Damian Rzepecki by unanimous decision in July 2026, while Guaylupo is undefeated at 12-0 and reached the UFC after winning titles in two different promotions, including the lightweight belt at 300 Sparta. If the booking holds, it pairs two unbeaten lightweights on a card that also gives Dallas its seventh UFC visit and its first since UFC 277 in July 2022.
Zaynukov's rise has already carried a bit of extra noise. Islam Makhachev introduced him to the MMA fanbase ahead of his DWCS debut, and fans later misheard the pronunciation of Chanko as John Pork, a name Zaynukov has said he does not like. For now, though, the louder detail is simple: the fight is being talked about, but until the UFC posts it, Jan. 16 still belongs to the fighters and not the announcement.
