Due to contract issues, Ante Delija has been
removed from his heavyweight matchup against Ciryl Gane this
Saturday at
#UFCFightIsland6 and the bout has been canceled.More info
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope)
October 14, 2020
UFC Fight Night 180 has lost its co-main event after “contract
issues” caused Ante Delija
to be pulled from a proposed heavyweight matchup with Ciryl
Gane.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced
the news on Wednesday. As a result, a women’s flyweight clash
pitting Katlyn
Chookagian against Jessica
Andrade has been elevated to the evening’s co-main event. Due
to the short-notice nature of Delija’s exit, a replacement opponent
will not be sought for Gane.
UFC Fight Night 180 takes place at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on
Saturday and is headlined by a featherweight scrap between Brian
Ortega and the Korean
Zombie. The main card airs on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT,
while the prelims stream immediately prior beginning at 2 p.m.
ET/11 a.m. PT.
Gane was originally slated to square off against Shamil
Abdurakhimov at UFC Fight Night 180, but Abdurakhimov withdrew
from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by
Delija. Gane is 6-0 as a professional thus far, with three of those
triumphs coming in UFC competition.
A veteran of KSW, Professional Fighters League, Rizin and M-1
Global, Delija has won eight of his last nine professional outings.
The 30-year-old Croatian is 17-3 over the course of his career,
with 13 victories coming inside the distance.