Ray Borg pulls out of UFC Fight Night Vegas; Gustavo Lopez named replacement 

Not a day passes without any controversial build-up in the UFC cards. This time around, it was the bantamweight clash between Ray Borg and Merab Dvalishvili which saw changes. UFC announced that Ray Borg would not be competing in the upcoming fight card, citing personal reasons.

Even Ray Borg tweeted out a photo of his son writing, "Family first, see you soon son." For those who didn't know, Ray Borg's infant son Anthony was born premature and suffers from Hydrocephalus, a brain condition in which the brain fluid gets built due to a blockage. All of his medical expenses were earlier paid off by former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub.

UFC finds a replacement to Ray Borg

The UFC did manage to find a replacement to Ray Borg by signing up Gustavo Lopez but things clearly didn't stop there. Unfortunately, Lopez was still signed with Combate Americas and hence the fight could have been canceled. Their CEO, Campbell McLaren tweeted,

Bad move from @Gustavo11Lopez he’s under contract with @combateamericas

— Campbell McLaren (@campbellcombate) June 11, 2020

However, the promotion later allowed Lopez to move ahead with the fight and replace Ray Borg. McLaren tweeted,

Combate Americas has decided to allow @Gustavo11Lopez to move forward and fight in the UFC this Saturday night. We wish him the best of luck with the rest of his career

— Campbell McLaren (@campbellcombate) June 11, 2020

At the same time, Lopez's manager issued an apology.

As a manager, I have made a mistake and @combateamericas does indeed have matching right to @Gustavo11Lopez and I have officially requested his release for him to fight this weekend in the UFC in Las Vegas. @campbellcombate

— Daniel Rubenstein (@dannyrube) June 11, 2020

Gustavo Lopez is a former CAMMA Bantamweight Champion. He holds a record of 11-4 and is currently on a three-fight winning streak. Starting his career back in 2012, Lopez has slowly and steadily worked his way to becoming a fighter at bantamweight.

Ray Borg, on the other hand, will see no movement in his record this weekend. It finally looked as if Ray Borg was finding his space in the division and was recovering from a very tough phase in life but that clearly isn't the case. He still has some more challenges ahead of him.

For Merab Dvalishvili, the fight now becomes a high-risk, low reward fight. He earlier was scheduled to face a known contender in Ray Borg but now he is facing a rising prospect. Not only that, but he is also putting his three-fight win streak on the line. Any loss is a setback for a fighter but losing to a ranked contender like Ray Borg and losing to a newcomer are two very different things.

We hope Ray Borg and his family emerge stronger from whatever they are dealing with. We wish them the best.