Yousri Belgaroui still has a Noche UFC fight in Glendale, just not the one he spent camp staring at. Kelvin Gastelum is out of the Sept. 12 middleweight bout for reasons that have not been made public, and Djorden Santos has stepped in on short notice.
The switch gives Belgaroui a very different kind of problem. Gastelum was the former Ultimate Fighter winner and the name-value test. Santos is the short-notice hammer trying to crash the whole setup and steal the spotlight before Belgaroui can settle into what was supposed to be a cleaner step up.
Brazilian journalist Leo Guimaraes first posted the update on X, writing in Portuguese that Belgaroui faces Santos on Sept. 12 at Noche UFC and that Gastelum is out for unknown reasons. Here is the source post:
EXCLUSIVO: Yousri Belgaroui enfrenta Djorden Santos em 12 de setembro, Noche UFC.
Kelvin Gastelum está fora da luta, ainda por razões desconhecidas pic.twitter.com/t7dcH0iQfl
— Léo Guimaraes (@leoguimaraesmma) August 14, 2026
Belgaroui Gets A Different Kind Of Trap Fight
Belgaroui came into MMA with a kickboxing reputation, and that reputation still follows him around like a neon sign. He trains alongside names connected to the Glover Teixeira and Alex Pereira orbit, which is exactly the kind of room that makes people believe the stand-up violence is going to translate.
The Dutch middleweight had to grind for his UFC spot. He appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series twice, then kicked the door in later with UFC wins that made the division pay attention. That is why the Gastelum booking mattered. It was not just another name on a bout sheet. It was the kind of matchup that could have told everyone whether Belgaroui was a fun striker or a real problem at 185 pounds.
Santos changes the math. He came through Dana White’s Contender Series after beating Will Currie, then had a rocky start in the UFC with a narrow loss to Ozzy Diaz. He rebounded against Danny Barlow, but his most recent outing ended with Baisangur Susurkaev catching him with a third-round rear-naked choke.
That makes this a classic short-notice UFC mess. Belgaroui loses the bigger name, but not the danger. Santos gets a fast turnaround with a chance to flip his own story, and Noche UFC gets another late-card wrinkle on a lineup already carrying Yair Rodriguez vs. Jean Silva, Brandon Moreno vs. Joseph Morales, Tommy McMillen vs. Marwan Rahiki, and Manon Fiorot vs. Alexa Grasso.
Gastelum’s exit still needs an official explanation. Until then, Belgaroui vs. Santos is the new middleweight assignment for Sept. 12, and it has all the ingredients of a fight where somebody finds out the hard way that replacement opponents are rarely polite guests.
