UFC
313 will move forward with 10 bouts after losing a pair of
preliminary contests on the day of the event.
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The Las Vegas-based promotion on Saturday announced that both Curtis
Blaydes and John
Castaneda have withdrawn from their respective fights due to
undisclosed illnesses. Blaydes was supposed to face Rizvan
Kuniev at heavyweight, while Castaneda was slated to meet
Chris
Gutierrez in a featherweight clash.
UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is
headlined by a light heavyweight championship showdown between
Alex
Pereira and Magomed
Ankalaev. In the co-main event, Justin
Gaethje will square off against Rafael
Fiziev at lightweight. The main card airs on pay-per-view via
ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The prelims begin at 7 p.m. ET/4
p.m. PT on ESPN+/Disney+ and continue at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on
ESPNEWS/ESPN+/Disney+.
Blaydes has lost two of his last three Octagon appearances,
including a first-round KO defeat to Tom
Aspinall in his most recent outing at UFC 304 this past
July.
Castaneda last competed at UFC on ESPN 57, where he dropped a
three-round verdict against Daniel
Marcos this past June. The longtime Combate Americas veteran is
4-3 in the Octagon.