Lightweight bruiser Nikolas Motta, who secured a UFC contract following his victory on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in late 2020, was scheduled to collide with Ignacio Bahamondes on the UFC 287 “Prelims” card on April 8 in Miami, Florida.
That bout appears to have been canceled.
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OCTAGON RETURNS TO THE GREAT WHITE NORTH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Canada for the first time in almost four years when it hosts UFC 289 inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sat., June 10, 2023. In UFC 289’s pay-per-view (PPV) main event, women’s Bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes, will lock horns with No. 5-ranked 135-pound contender, Irene Aldana, while former Lightweight kingpin and current No. 1-seeded contender, Charles Oliveira, battles No. 4-ranked Beneil Dariush in the co-feature with 155-pound title implications on the line.
“I had this accident couple days [ago] by a head butt in wrestling practice and my coaches and people that I trust made the decision to ask to to pull back my fight three weeks to have enough time to heal this or it would easily open in the fight and they would stop the fight by doctor stoppage,” Motta wrote on Instagram. “I had a lot stitches all my career but never had one deep like that, this white part on my cut in the second picture is my tendon, it got very swollen and inflamed.”
See the NSFW pic below:
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Motta may need to change his nickname from “Iron” after that mishap.
The promotion has yet to make an official announcement and it is not yet known if matchmakers will attempt to secure a new opponent for Bahamondes or simply shift their 155-pound contest to a future card in May, or perhaps early June.
“It felt unbelievable that something like that happened right before my fight, after thinking a lot I could see that was the right choice from my coach that I trust,” Motta continued. “I been focused and always in shape since after my fight in September last year and didn’t go home for the first time to see my family in the end of the year to stay ready to fight in December or beginning of the year and i been focused since then. So i just need couple weeks to heal that 100 percent, trust the process and finally be back.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 287 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 287: “Pereira vs. Adesanya 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
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