UFC 287 lost a fight minutes before the preliminary card began Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Due to an undisclosed medical issue with [autotag]Chase Sherman[/autotag], his heavyweight bout against [autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag] was canceled, UFC lead commentator Jon Anik announced at the start of the broadcast.
A person with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie that Williams was compensated despite the fight cancellation.
Had he competed, Sherman (16-11 MMA, 4-10 UFC) would’ve looked to get back in the win column after a loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in November. The defeat was his fifth in his most recent six fights.
Williams (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) stepped in on short notice in place of fan-favorite Chris Barnett, who withdrew from a matchup vs. Sherman for undisclosed reasons. Williams made his UFC debut March 11 when he defeated Lukasz Brzeski by unanimous decision.
With the cancellation, the UFC 287 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya – for middleweight title
- Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
- Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
- Luana Pinheiro vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Loopy Godinez
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Trey Ogden
- Steve Garcia vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Sam Hughes
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.