Huge UFC Fight Called Off, UFC 211 Loses PPV Bout, Latest Episode Of UFC 211 Embedded
- Ahead of Saturday's UFC 211 card, the promotion has been releasing "Embedded" videos to promote the fighters. In the latest release, Junior dos Santos takes in a family dinner before embarking on his quest to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title when he meets Stipe Miocic.
Miocic gathers up some fan mail before heading off to the airport, while Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade also take off from their respective homes for Dallas.
- The planned middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and challenger Georges St-Pierre is off, according to UFC president Dana White. Speaking with FOX Sports Australia, White stated that the promotion has decided to move on from Bisping-GSP and grant top contender Yoel Romero a shot at the belt.
"I made this GSP fight, we did a press conference. The thing was supposed to happen in July. Michael Bisping is going to have to defend his title now. We're not waiting for GSP," White said. "(Yoel) doesn't need to voice his opinion on why he needs a title shot. He definitely deserves a title shot. He's next in line, he's the No. 1 ranked guy in the world."
St-Pierre, who announced his return earlier this year, stated recently that he would be ready to fight late in 2017. That doesn't fit for the UFC, as Bisping has not fought since last year and the middleweight division has become restless waiting.
"Georges St-Pierre was coming back. Bisping-St-Pierre ? they both wanted that fight," White said. "We asked Yoel to step aside, he did. It doesn't look like that fight is gonna happen now. Georges St-Pierre is saying he will not be ready to compete now until November. Who knows if that's even the case. It could be next year."
- A main card bout for Saturday's UFC 211 event has been scrapped, as Henry Cejudo will not be able to face Sergio Pettis. The flyweights were scheduled to kickoff the pay-per-view portion of the card from Dallas, but Cejudo suffered a hand injury in training.
Officials have moved David Branch-Krzysztof Jotko to the main card, which in turn bumped Jared Gordon-Michel Quinones to the FX prelims. Below is the current fight card:
MAIN CARD (PPV/10 p.m. ET)
UFC Heavyweight Championship
Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Junior dos Santos
UFC Strawweight Championship
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (c) vs. Jessica Andrade
* Welterweight: Demian Maia vs. Jorge Masvidal
* Featherweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Yair Rodriguez
* Middleweight: Krzysztof Jotko vs. David Branch
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX/8 p.m. ET)
* Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier
* Featherweight: Chas Skelly vs. Jason Knight
* Featherweight: Jared Gordon vs. Michel Quinones
* Lightweight: Marco Polo Reyes vs. James Vick
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6 p.m. ET)
* Strawweight: Jessica Aguilar vs. Cortney Casey
* Heavyweight: Chase Sherman vs. Rashad Coulter
* Featherweight: Gabriel Benitez vs. Enrique Barzola
* Light Heavyweight: Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Joachim Christensen