UFC’s October 9th card has dropped to nine fights in total following the loss of a middleweight bout on the prelims. Deron Winn had to reportedly withdraw from his matchup against Phil Hawes for undisclosed reasons, per a report from MMA DNA.
The promotion attempted to put together a short-notice replacement fight, as PFL alum Chris Curtis was called in to face Hawes. While both fighters made weight at Friday’s weigh-ins, the bout was reportedly scrapped due to Hawes not wanting to take a new opponent just a day before his fight.
Details on the replacement bout’s cancelation were broken by Marc Raimondi of ESPN.
The middleweight contests were scheduled to take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Curtis was looking to make a splash in his UFC debut. He has been quickly attaining a winning streak this year, fighting four times since January and picking up three finish victories on the regional scene.
Curtis was preparing for a November 14th fight against Evan Cutts on a Fury FC card. It is not known whether he will rejoin that lineup now that his UFC fight has fallen through.
Hawes was looking to continue his undefeated UFC run. He earned his third win with the promotion in May, defeating Kyle Daukaus via unanimous decision.
Saturday’s UFC “Fight Night” card is currently set to be headlined by strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez.
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