This weekend's UFC card can't catch a break.
Unfortunate circumstances have kept UFC matchmakers busy in the lead-up to Saturday’s event as UFC on ESPN 61 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas has encountered a handful of changes in the days prior.
The scheduled co-main event between Chris Gutierrez and Javid Basharat won’t happen as planned. Basharat is out of the fight for undisclosed reasons; LFA standout Quang Le will make his promotional debut against Gutierrez (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC). Fanáticos del MMA GT first reported the news.
Prior to the change, Le (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was scheduled to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 17 vs. Aaron Tau.
Additionally, Allan Nascimento is out due to illness, and his main card bout vs. Jafel Filho has been scrapped, the promotion announced Tuesday.
A third fight has been canceled. The welterweight bout between Yusuke Kinoshita and Jonny Parsons has been scrapped, multiple people with knowledge of the cancellation informed MMA Junkie on Friday.
With the changes, the UFC on ESPN 61 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.
