UFC 230 has suffered another setback with Luke Rockhold pulling out of his scheduled fight with Chris Weidman due to injury. ESPN reported the news earlier today.
Rockhold cited several injuries for the pull-out, including a broken nose, infected shin and sprained right knee. The bout was slated to be a rematch of their 2015 middleweight title fight that Rockhold won by fourth round TKO.
Stepping up to take the fight on two weeks notice is Jacare Souza, who was scheduled to fight David Branch on the undercard. A replacement to fight Branch is being sought out by UFC.
The change hurts the New York City card that has already lost a key fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz. Poirier was also injured and a replacement fight for Diaz wasn’t put together.
A women’s flyweight title bout between Sijara Eubanks and Valentina Shevchenko was briefly put together and was soon scrapped. Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight title fight is now the main event.
Weidman taking on Jacare is still a battle of top middleweights but lacks the allure and backstory the Rockhold fight had. Weidman has been on the shelf since a July 2017 win over Kelvin Gastelum. Jacare is coming off of a decision loss to Gastelum this past May.
UFC 230 takes place on Nov. 3 from Madison Square Garden on pay-per-view.
Leave a Reply