It’s been a bit of a rough journey to get to the UFC’s very first show on ESPN programming.
First, there was the trouble finding the main event which resulted in the UFC pulling UFC 233’s main event to put it on UFC Brooklyn (the first show on ESPN+). This led to the cancelation of UFC 233 entirely.
After that, we got the announcement that controversial heavyweight prospect Greg Hardy would be added to the card. Which created new problems and backlash as UFC flyweight Rachael Ostovich is also set to compete at the event.
However, the not so positive news continues as two fighters have been injured out of their bouts for next Saturday night.
AGFight confirmed yesterday that UFC bantamweight John Lineker was out of his bout with Cory Sandhagen that kicked off the prelims.
Since then, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani has confirmed that Ion Cutelaba is also now out of his fight with Glover Teixeira. The UFC is currently seeking replacements.
Both John Lineker and Ion Cutelaba are out of their respective fights next weekend versus Cory Sandhagen and Glover Teixeira in Brooklyn, sources say. UFC looking for replacements but obviously time is of the essence with the card nine days away.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 10, 2019
“Both John Lineker and Ion Cutelaba are out of their respective fights next weekend versus Cory Sandhagen and Glover Teixeira in Brooklyn, sources say. UFC looking for replacements but obviously time is of the essence with the card nine days away.” Helwani tweeted.
Hopefully, this is the end of the issues surrounding UFC Brooklyn as the card still has plenty of great fights to look forward to.
Main Card (on ESPN+ at 10:00 PM EST / 7:00 PM PST)
- Flyweight – 125lbs: (C)Henry Cejudo vs. (BW C)TJ Dillashaw
- Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Allen Crowder vs. Greg Hardy
- Lightweight – 155lbs: Gregor Gillespie vs. Yancy Medeiros
- Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez vs. Dustin Ortiz
- Flyweight: Rachael Ostovich vs. Paige VanZant
- Light heavyweight – 205lbs: Glover Teixeira vs TBD
Prelims (on ESPN TV at 8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST)
- Lightweight: Donald Cerrone vs. Alexander Hernandez
- Flyweight: Joanne Calderwood vs. Ariane Lipski
- Light heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Moreira
- Bantamweight – 135lbs: Cory Sandhagen vs TBD
ESPN+ Prelims (6:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM PST)
- Lightweight: Dennis Bermudez vs. Te Edwards
- Welterweight – 170lbs: Belal Muhammad vs. Geoff Neal
- Welterweight: Randy Brown vs. Chance Rencountre
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/10/2019