Just hours before they were set to step into the octagon, [autotag]Damir Hadzovic[/autotag] and [autotag]Yancy Medeiros[/autotag] have been pulled from today’s UFC Fight Night 188.
MMA Junkie confirmed the late scratch with UFC officials following an initial report from MMA Fighting. UFC Fight Night 188, which takes place at the UFC Apex, will now proceed with 12 bouts, all of which stream on ESPN+.
UFC officials have yet to reveal the reason for the removal, though an official announcement is expected shortly.
Hadzovic (13-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was hoping to snap a two-fight losing skid as he returned from a 16-month layoff, that will now be extended. After scoring back-to-back wins over Nick Hein and Marco Polo Reyes, “The Bosnian Bomber” dropped a unanimous decision to Christos Giagos in June 2019, followed by a first-round submission loss to Renato Moicano in March 2020.
Meanwhile, having lost his past three in a row, Medeiros (15-7 MMA, 6-7 UFC) was also looking to get back to the win column. Since dropping back down to lightweight following a four-fight stint at 170 pounds, Medeiros has suffered back-to-back losses to Gregor Gillespie and, most recently, Lando Vannata in February 2020. Prior to his losing skid, Medeiros had scored three-straight finishes over Sean Spencer, Erick Silva and Alex Oliveira.
With the late scratch, the UFC Fight Night 188 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Carla Esparza vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Justin Tafa vs. Jared Vanderaa
- Norma Dumont vs. Felicia Spencer
- Bill Algeo vs. Ricardo Ramos
- Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
PRELIMINARY (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- Chris Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell
- Court McGee vs. Claudio Silva
- Victor Rodriguez vs. Bruno Silva
- Josh Culibao vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
- David Dvorak vs. Juancamilo Ronderos
- Rafael Alves vs. Damir Ismagulov
[vertical-gallery id=612161]