Dana White immediately fires fighter hours before UFC 317 as fight cancelled

Dana White has decided to cut one fighter from the roster just hours before UFC 317 - forcing a planned fight at the event to be cancelled.

UFC 317, which will be held in Paradise, Nevada, will be headlined by Ilia Topuria's clash against Charles Oliveira for the vacant Lightweight Championship.

And Alexandre Pantoja puts his flyweight belt on the line against Kai Kara-France.

Five matches fill the main card on the night, with 11 in total - but there was supposed to be a 12th fight before plans changed at the last minute.

A middleweight fight was booked to take place between the undefeated pair of Jackson McVey and Christopher Ewert, with weigh-ins taking place on Friday.

However, Ewert - who was due to make his UFC major event debut - did not make an appearance at the weigh-ins.

It was later reported that he had missed weight by a staggering 10lbs, with the fight subsequently cancelled.

UFC commentator Jon Anik then announced that Ewert had been brutally cut from the roster by White as a result.

The UFC regularly decides to trim its roster to allow for new additions or as a result of long losing streaks or inactivity.

Last month, Brazilian star Jose Aldo, who is the longest-reigning UFC Featherweight Champion in history, was released after losing three of his last four fights.

And Brad Katona, the only fighter to win the Ultimate Fighter twice, was axed earlier this month after losing to Bekzat Almakhan in the first round at UFC 315.

But the removal of Ewert comes as something of a surprise given that he was only officially signed and added to the roster on Monday.

The Chilean only took the fight at short notice on Wednesday after McVey's original opponent, Sedriques Dumas, withdrew due to legal issues.

Given the timing of the fight cancellation, the UFC have decided not to replace McVey versus Ewert on the card.