The UFC’s long-awaited return to Toronto has taken another hit with [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] out of his planned matchup with [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] at UFC 297.
Reyes (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) revealed Saturday that Ulberg (9-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) suffered an injury that forced him out of their light heavyweight bout, which was slated to take place on the Jan. 20 card at Scotiabank Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+.
The former UFC title challenger admitted “frustration” with the situation while seemingly questioning the validity of Ulberg’s injury (via Instagram Stories):
Hey Everyone My Fight Jan 20 has been called off due to my opponent’s “injury”. We are currently looking at options or rescheduling. I’ve had a great camp and I’m def frustrated but god has a plan.
Since pushing Jon Jones to the brink in their title fight at UFC 247 in February 2020, Reyes has struggled in the octagon. The 33-year-old has lost four straight – including stoppage setbacks to Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and, most recently, Ryan Spann in November 2022.
Meanwhile, Ulberg is experiencing a career trajectory in the opposite direction. The City Kickboxing standout has rebounded from his UFC debut loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu with five straights wins, most recently a third-round submission of Da-Un Jung at UFC 293. Ulberg called Reyes out after his win and got his wish before he pulled out of the fight.
According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the matchup between Reyes and Ulberg could potentially be shifted to UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, N.J., on March 30.
The latest UFC 297 lineup now includes:
- Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis – for middleweight title
- Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
- Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
- Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
- Dominick Reyes vs. opponent TBA
- Garrett Armfield vs. Brad Katona
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
- Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
- Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
- Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.