UFC 319 suffers major setback as two fights CANCELLED within 24 hours
UFC 319 is facing some late drama as an exciting fight has been pulled from the card less than 24 hours after another top fight was cancelled.
On Saturday night, the UFC travels to the United Center in Chicago, Illinois for one of the most anticipated fight cards of the year.
Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will defend his title against the popular Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of the evening, while Manchester's Lerone Murphy faces Aaron Pico in the co-main.
Despite the fact that the card promises to be one of the best of 2025, it has faced several problems with fighters pulling out from their fights on short-notice.
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And it appears that UFC boss Dana White will have to stay on his toes as a further two fights were pulled from the card less than 24 hours apart.
Although British MMA fans will no doubt be happy to see Murphy on the UFC 319, the Englishman wasn't originally scheduled to be on the card, with Movsar Evloev instead scheduled to face Pico.
But an undisclosed injury forced the Russian fighter to become just one of several fighters forced to pull out of their fight on the exciting UFC 319 card.
Weeks later, lightweight fighter King Green suffered an injury during fight week that was forced him to withdraw from his bout with Diego Ferreira, which was set to serve as the featured prelim match of the evening.
The late injury is just another setback for the UFC veteran, who has lost two fights in a row, one at the hands of Paddy Pimblett, and won just one of his last four.
However, the surprise last-minute changes to the UFC 319 card didn't stop there as a fight week injury forced the fight between Rodrigo Sezinando and Daniil Donchenko to be postponed.
Having competed in the recent season of UFC reality series The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), the bout between Sezinando and Donchenko was set to crown a new TUF welterweight champion.
But fans of the series will have to wait a bit longer to crown their new welterweight champion, with the exact details of who is injured or what the timeline on their recovery could be yet to be revealed.
Thankfully, the flyweight TUF finale between Joseph Morales vs. Alibi Idiris will move forward as planned.
And it's not all bad news as exciting prospect Baisangur Susurkaev became a late addition to the UFC 319 card just four days after earning a contract on the Contender Series.
The 24-year-old received high praise from White after his first round knockout win on Tuesday, leading to him earning a fight against Eric Nolan this weekend.
Topics: Dana White, Khamzat Chimaev, MMA, UFC
Ben McCrum