UFC Releases Official Statement On UFC 215 Shakeup

The MMA world was dealt yet another extremely disappointing blow late last night (Sept. 7, 2017) when news arrived that UFC flyweight challenger Ray Borg was forced to withdraw from his scheduled main event against longtime champion Demetrious Johnson at Saturday’s (Sept. 9, 2017) UFC 215 from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

After the news broke that Borg had been forced out due to an illness that was reportedly had nothing to do with his weight cut, the promotion released an official statement clarifying that the “Tazmexican Devil” had been deemed medically unfit by UFC doctors. With the main event now cancelled, they were also forced to offer refunds for customers who had bought tickets.

Check it out from their official website:

“Due to a viral illness to UFC flyweight contender Ray Borg, the main event bout against champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 215 has been cancelled. Borg was deemed unfit to compete by the UFC medical team.

UFC 215, which is now headlined by the women’s bantamweight championship between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko, will proceed as scheduled with 11 bouts at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. Moving to the Pay-Per-View main card will be the flyweight bout between Henry Cejudo and Wilson Reis. Additionally, the Mitch Clarke and Alex White lightweight contest will now kick off the FS1 prelims.

With the removal of Johnson vs. Borg, customers may request a full refund of purchased tickets at point of sale.”

With the removal, Borg delayed Johnson’s attempt to break Anderson Silva‘s revered record of consecutive title defenses, which he’s now tied with “The Spider” with 10 straight.

And while both Ariel Helwani and the UFC reported Borg was removed from the card due to a viral illness that left him unfit to compete, it’s yet another blow to a promotion that has now seen three high-profile title fights fall apart at the last minute, with UFC 215’s would-be main event joining UFC 209’s anticipated Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson and UFC 213’s Nunes vs. Shevchenko during a down year when the UFC is in need of big fights more than ever.

Borg has had his issues with making the flyweight division’s 125-pound limit before, something that made him at least somewhat of a liability to book in a title fight, especially when Johnson was focused on potential opponent T.J. Dillashaw – a much more high-profile opponent – missing weight if he were indeed to cut down from bantamweight to face him.

Either way, it’s another main event down the drain, and the UFC is rapidly running out of time to turn around a highly un-exciting 2017.