The co-main event between Ciryl Gane and Ante Delija has been scrapped.
Originally, the heavyweight bout was announced following the departure of Shamil Abdurakhimov, who pulled out for undisclosed reasons. However, Gane's opponent has been forced off the card again as contractual issues with Professional Fighters League appear to be the reason that Delija is unable to fight.
The 30-year-old revealed the news himself on Instagram (Translation courtesy of Google):
Unfortunately, what none of us expected happened. The fight was canceled due to an administrative failure, namely, I did not get the termination of the contract by the PFL and this news caught me when I had already come to Abu Dhabi. As an athlete, whose focus is exclusively on wrestling, I did not deal with the logistical part of my performance. I was disappointed and taken aback by this whole situation, I had the ideal opportunity to perform as a co-main fight at an event in the best organization in the world, but what is, there it is. I hope to be in the ring again soon. Thank you all for your support. Let's move on!
While not confirmed, it’s likely that Gane will no longer compete on the upcoming fight night show due to the event being less than a week away. At the moment, there’s no news on whether UFC officials are searching for a new opponent for the heavyweight.