The bad luck continues for the UFC as its summer schedule continues to be pelted by fighter withdrawals.
Most recently, the UFC on ESPN 59 event on July 13 at Ball Arena in Denver has absorbed the brunt of the blow. One day after news surfaced its main event between Maycee Barber and Rose Namajunas was canceled (with Tracy Cortez now stepping in), two undercard fights have also been pulled.
The welterweight bout between [autotag]Mike Malott[/autotag] and [autotag]Gilbert Urbina[/autotag] has been canceled altogether (first reported by TSN). Additionally, [autotag]MarQuel Mederos[/autotag] is out, and the promotion seeks a replacement to fight [autotag]Nazim Sadykhov[/autotag] (first reported by Octagon Update).
Two people with knowledge of the changes recently confirmed them to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Malott (10-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) later posted a video to social media in which he said Urbina (7-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) withdrew from the fight. Malott said he had previously sustained an injury, so he elected to pass on a replacement opponent.
It's still unclear why Mederos (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) withdrew from the fight vs. Sadykhov (9-1-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).
With the changes, the UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC on ESPN 59.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Denver fight card loses two more bouts
2024-06-26T22:54:52Z dg43tfdfdgfd