UFC 289 card has taken another hit after an exciting featherweight bout scheduled for the event got canceled.
Featherweights Hakeem Dawodu and Lucas Almeida were set to take on each other at the event. However, recent revelations have revealed that the bout has been canceled.
The news was confirmed by journalist Marcel Dorff who took to Twitter and revealed that Lucas Almeida would now take on Pat Sabatini on June 17 at UFC Vegas 75 instead of fighting Hakeem Dawodu on June 10. He said:
"BREAKING Pat Sabatini takes on Lucas Almeida on June 17th at #UFCVegas75 in the UFCAPEX. Dawodu vs. Almeida (UFC 289)"
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Take a look at his tweet below:
In a tweet that followed, Marcel Dorff clarified that further confirmation is yet to be made by the UFC and it is unknown at the moment as to why the fight between Hakeem Dawodu and Lucas Almedia was canceled. He said:
"Just for clearance. I don't know if they either changed fights or if Dawodu is out at the moment. I only know Pat and Lucas fighting each other on June 17th."
Take a look at his tweet below:
Was there any other change to UFC 289 card?
UFC 289 was supposed to be headlined by a trilogy between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena. However, Nunes is now set to take on a new opponent after Pena pulled out of the fight earlier this month.
Soon after the news of Julianna Pena pulling out of the fight was announced, the UFC revealed that Amanda Nunes will now be fighting Irene Aldana for the UFC women's bantamweight championship.
The UFC president Dana White revealed the same with a video posted online. In the video, White also revealed the reason behind Julianna Pena pulling out of the highly anticipated trilogy bout against Amanda Nunes and claimed Pena has broken her ribs. He said:
"Julianna Pena was taking on Amanda Nunes on June 10th at Vancouver. Unfortunately, She has broken her ribs and she cannot compete. We have Irena Aldana who is coming in who won four of her last fights and three of those were finishes we could have another Mexican world champion. Ladies and Gentlemen on Saturday June of 10th Vancouver, Canada, Nunes vs Aldana.”
Watch the video below: