Sean Strickland (left) throws a punch at Uriah Hall (right) in the main event of UFC Vegas 33. Strickland won the fight by unanimous decision.
Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland scrapped, reveals Dana White
The October 15 UFC Fight Night card needs a new main event, Dana White revealed on Tuesday.
Recently, Strickland took to social media to show off a picture of an infection on his finger after he suffered a cut in training when he sliced it on a sparring partner’s tooth. The middleweight contender will now undergo surgery and on Tuesday, White revealed his main event fight against Cannonier has now been canceled.
“Yeah, it does (affect the upcoming fight). He’s out,” White said after the Contender Series. “We had matchmaking today and that was when I found out there was something wrong with him. … I think we just scrapped the fight.”
At this time, it’s uncertain if Cannonier will remain on the card and fight someone else or if the promotion will search for a new main event.
Jared Cannonier (15-6) is coming off a decision loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 276 for the middleweight belt. To earn the title shot, he scored a KO win over Derek Brunson and a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. The American is currently ranked second at middleweight and since dropping down to 185lbs he is 5-2 with his other loss coming to Robert Whittaker. In his career, he also holds notable wins over Anderson Silva, Jack Hermansson, David Branch, and Ion Cutelaba among others.
Sean Strickland (25-4) suffered a first-round KO loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 276 in a title eliminator bout. Before the setback, he was on a six-fight win streak with wins over Hermansson, Uriah Hall, Krzysztof Jotko, Brendan Allen, Jack Marshman, and Nordine Taleb. The fan favorite is ranked seventh at middleweight.
With Cannonier vs. Strickland off, the Oct. 15 Fight Night card is as follows:
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Cub Swanson
- Askar Askarov vs. Brandon Royval
- Viviane Araujo vs. Alexa Grasso
- Mike Jackson vs. Pete Rodriguez
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Sam Hughes vs. Piera Rodriguez
- Tatsuro Taira vs. C.J. Vergara
- Brandon Davis vs. Mana Martinez
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Victor Henry
- Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Joanderson Brito
