A fight has been pulled from the UFC 324 fight card just hours before the action gets underway in Las Vegas.
Paddy “the Baddy” Pimblett will take on Justin Gaethje in the card’s main event, with both men aiming to become the interim UFC lightweight champion, while undisputed champion Ilia Topuria takes a break from the sport to deal with issues in his personal life.
Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong will face off in a highly anticipated bantamweight contest after Waldo-Cortes Acosta and Derrick Lewis aim to entertain fans in their heavyweight contest.
Natalia Silva vs Rose Namajunas and Arnold Allen vs Jean Silva make up the main card after Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes’ women’s bantamweight title bout was cancelled earlier this month after the champion underwent neck surgery.
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Now, just hours before the event gets underway, Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez’s lightweight bout has been pulled from the card.
The UFC confirmed the news in a statement on their website but gave no official reasons for the decision.
"The lightweight bout between Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez has been canceled from tonight’s event," read the statement.
Earlier today (January 24), Dana White announced that the usual $50,000 fight bonuses would be doubled to $100,000, adding a further incentive for fighters to put on entertaining contests and chase knockouts and submission victories.
Bonuses will be given to fighters who take part in the fight of the night, as well as those who pick up a finish victory and stars who put on the best individual showings.
Of course, the event is the first of the UFC’s $7.7 billion deal with Paramount+.
The decision comes after Gaethje claimed that he wasn't being paid any better than usual despite the broadcast deal during the pre-fight press conference.
“I hear Daniel Cormier saying everybody is going to get paid more on this card," said the lightweight.
"I’m not getting $1 more than I would have if this deal did not happen."
'The Highlight' then claimed: "To have 14 bonuses and not equal up to $1m is not right. It’s not right.
“It should be a lot more than that, and I should have had opportunities to do smarter things with my money, but I don’t and I haven’t.”
UFC 324 fight card
Main Card
Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett — Interim Lightweight Championship (Main Event)
Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong — Bantamweight
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis — Heavyweight
Natalia Silva vs. Rose Namajunas — Women’s Flyweight
Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva — Featherweight
Prelims
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo — Bantamweight
Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulyaev — (Weight class varies)
Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas — Light Heavyweight
Alex Perez vs. Charles Johnson — Flyweight
Early Prelims
Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman — Heavyweight
Adam Fugitt vs. Ty Miller — Welterweight
Topics: Justin Gaethje, MMA, Paddy Pimblett, UFC, Dana White
Luke Davies