One of New York’s favorite UFC sons won’t get his chance to compete at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Minutes before UFC 309 started, the promotion announced [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]’s fight was off due to an illness with his opponent [autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]. The three-round middleweight bout was expected to take place on the prelims.
Weidman (16-7 MMA, 12-7 UFC) and Anders (16-8 MMA, 8-8 UFC) both made weight seemingly without issue at Friday’s weigh-ins. Both had voiced excitement for the bout. Neither fighter has commented on the cancellation at the time of publication.
Shortly after the news, Weidman shared a video on social media expressing his disappointment with the cancellation.
Completely devastated pic.twitter.com/FXMmYiOkAz
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) November 16, 2024
Had it happened, Weidman would’ve looked to continue momentum after a win over Bruno Silva in March. Anders aimed to win three of four, having recently become recreational drug-free for the first time in 14 years.
With the change, the UFC 309 fight card includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
- Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira
- Paul Craig vs. Bo Nickal
- Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
- James Llontop vs. Mauricio Ruffy
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/FX/Hulu, 8 p.m. ET)
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
- Damon Jackson vs. Jim Miller
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Marcin Tybura
- Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Mickey Gall
PRELIMINARY CARD (Hulu/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.