Vaporized! Heavyweight bout quietly dissolved from UFC Vegas 77 lineup with no official explanation (Updated)

“The Big Ticket” no longer has a seat at UFC Vegas 77.

That’s because the promotion quietly removed the heavyweight contest between Walt Harris and Josh Parisian, according to MMA Fighting, but officials failed to disclose the reason why ahead of this Sat. night’s (July 15) event at APEX in Las Vegas.

Harris later revealed the “issue” behind his withdrawal (more on that here).

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HIGH STAKES LIGHTWEIGHT MATCHUP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to UFC APEX on Sat., Sept. 23, 2023, with a high stakes 155-pound showdown as No. 6-ranked contender, Rafael Fiziev, takes on No. 7-seeded Mateusz Gamrot. In UFC Vegas 79’s co-main event, No. 12-ranked Featherweight contender, Bryce Mitchell, steps back into the Octagon against No. 13-seeded Dan Ige.

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Harris, who turned 40 back in June, was making his Octagon return after more than two years of inactivity. “The Big Ticket” is looking to snap a three-fight losing streak dating back to early 2020, with all three losses ending by way of technical knockout.

As for the 34 year-old Parisian (15-6), he broke into the heavyweight ranks with an impressive showing on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in summer 2020, but failed to find his footing in the years that followed, dropping three of five inside the cage.

No word yet on whether this fight will be rebooked or scrapped altogether.

UFC Vegas 77 will be headlined by the women’s bantamweight title fight between former champion Holly Holm and Brazilian bruiser Mayra Bueno Silva. Elsewhere on the card, middleweight maulers Albert Duraev and Junyong Park hook ‘em up at 185 pounds.

For the updated UFC Vegas 77 fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.