Michael Chiesa out of UFC Fight Night 91 main event, UFC seeks new opponent for Tony Ferguson

By Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC’s first trip to South Dakota has lost one half of its scheduled main event, as MMAJunkie.com reports that Michael Chiesa is out of his fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC Fight Night 91.

Per the report, Chiesa is dealing with lingering back issues and is unable to fight on at the July 13 event. The UFC is now trying to find a replacement opponent to face Ferguson on just over two weeks notice.

UFC Fight Night 91 airs on Fox Sports 1 from Sioux Falls, and the current lineup now sits as follows:

  • Tony Ferguson vs. TBD
  • John Lineker vs. Michael McDonald
  • Tim Boetsch vs. Josh Samman
  • Alexey Oleinik vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
  • Keita Nakamura vs. Kyle Noke
  • Ben Nguyen vs. Louis Smolka
  • Ryan Hall vs. Alex White
  • Cortney Casey vs. Cristina Stanciu
  • Sam Alvey vs. Eric Spicely
  • Matthew Lopez vs. Rani Yahya
  • Devin Clark vs. Alex Nicholson
  • Scott Holtzman vs. Cody Pfister

Penick’s Analysis: That’s a really unfortunate injury removal. This already was an opponent lower in the ranks than expected for Ferguson, but it was still a good and exciting matchup in its own right. Now Ferguson’s going to get another late replacement unlikely to be higher on the lightweight ladder to help his cause for a title fight. It’s unfortunate for fans in South Dakota as well, because that means an even lesser main event than this one could have been considered to be, barring some significant and unexpected upgrade in opponent on short notice.

[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]

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