The UFC's next big PPV event has suffered a big hit to its line-up.
The highly anticipated fight between former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev is off, according to Sterling who made the announcement via his YouTube page on Wednesday. He revealed he suffered an injury while training and would not be able to make the Oct. 5 appearance.
“Unfortunately, I have to break the news I will not be competing in Salt Lake City at UFC 307,” Sterling said. “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround."
“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face.”
Sterling vs. Evloev was to serve as a main card bout at UFC 307 just under the main and co-main event title fights. Headlining the card is a light heavyweight scrap between champion Alec Pereira and challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. The co-main event is a women's bantamweight title fight between new champion Raquel Pennington and former champion Julianna Pena.