UFC 319 Suffers Last-Minute Withdrawals
The UFC 319 pay-per-view event has suffered the loss of three fights in just two days, due to various circumstances. The most surprising miss occurred on Friday, when Bryan Battle (12-2) failed to make weight in the middleweight category, exceeding the limit by 4 pounds. The scheduled fight between Battle and Nursulton Ruziboev (36-9-2) was canceled due to this breach. This is the second consecutive time that Battle has failed to make weight in a UFC appearance, although the previous one was at welterweight in December. Despite moving up a weight class for Saturday’s event, Battle still did not make weight by a considerable amount. Battle, 30, has shown a good performance in the octagon, with a record of 7-1 in the UFC. UFC 319 also lost the “The Ultimate Fighter” welterweight final. Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko will not face each other in the final due to an injury to Sezinando. The fight will be rescheduled for a later date. In addition, an expected lightweight fight between Diego Ferreira and King Green was canceled this week. Green revealed via social media that he was forced to withdraw from the card due to an injury.Fortunately for the UFC, the highly anticipated main event for the middleweight title between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev is still on. Both fighters made weight on Friday, including Chimaev, who weighed in at 183 pounds, 2 pounds under the limit. The UFC even had middleweight contender Caio Borralho ready to act as a substitute, although for now, his services will not be needed.
