145. I’m not allowed on the official scale
cause the fight is off.
9days. I did my part. pic.twitter.com/Vwy0N3ATEr— CharlesAirJourdain (@JourdainAir)
January 21, 2022
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The first Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view of
2022 took a pair of huge hits before weigh-ins began. Early on Friday morning, ESPN
Deportes reported that Rodolfo
Vieira had been forced out of his UFC
270 meeting with Wellington
Turman due to medical reasons. Per
MMA Fighting, Turman will be paid his show money, and it is not
certain if the fight will be rebooked or if the two will face
different opponents in the future. The promotion confirmed the loss
of this fight shortly before the weigh-ins with an updated lineup
excluding the middleweight matchup. The welterweight pairing
between Trevin
Giles and Michael
Morales has since been elevated to the main card.
Vieira was aiming to keep his 100% finish rate intact by taking on
Turman, while also looking to become the first man to submit is
fellow countryman. “The Black Belt Hunter” surged on to the scene
with a pair of arm-triangle chokes over Oskar
Piechota and Saparbek
Safarov in 2019 and 2020, but a 2021 setback to Anthony
Hernandez – a submission loss for the grappling star – halted
most of his momentum after he fatigued in the second round and
succumbed to a guillotine choke. The 32-year-old bounced back a few
months later to tap Dustin
Stoltzfus, thereby pushing his submission win rate to 88%.
Turman was also pursuing his own win streak in this 185-pound tilt,
as he previously defeated Sam Alvey by
bizarre split decision after losing two points to eye pokes in the
third round. As a pro, Turman’s finish rate is below his former
prospective opponent of Vieira, with only 65% of his victories
coming inside the distance. In his last seven wins, he has earned
five decision verdicts as well as two first-round tapouts.
Later on Friday morning, Eurosport
Espana broke the news that Ilia
Topuria could no longer compete at UFC 270 due to a failed
weight cut. Topuria was expected to take on late replacement
Charles
Jourdain – who himself confirmed
the fight was off, while also declaring that he had reached the
145-pound mark even taking the fight a week ago – who was stepping
in for Movsar
Evloev.
At Wednesday’s UFC Media Day, Topuria
expressed that his former opponent Evloev should not be
considered undefeated given that he withdrew from their matchup. As
of now, Topuria remains unbeaten as a professional after 11 fights,
as his withdrawal from UFC 270 has not added a loss to his record.
The Spaniard born in Germany with Georgian nationality made a
splash in his promotional debut when he took home a decision over
highly touted prospect Youssef
Zalal in 2020. A pair of first-round knockouts over Damon
Jackson and Ryan Hall in
2020 and 2021 boosted his stock and placed him in rankings
consideration.
Jourdain was hoping to make the most of a short-notice opportunity,
taking the match last Thursday when Evloev fell ill from
COVID-19. The high-flying Jourdain was bringing a 92% stoppage rate
into this meeting, with his last win coming on the scorecards over
Andre
Ewell the first of his career. “Air” Jourdain holds an even UFC
record of three wins, three losses and a draw since appearing under
its banner in 2019.
UFC 270 will carry on with 11 fights at the Honda Center in
Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 22. The two title fights remain intact,
with the headliner a heavyweight championship unification battle
between champ Francis
Ngannou and interim titleholder Ciryl Gane.
In the co-main event, Brandon
Moreno and Deiveson
Figueiredo will face one another for the third time in a row
with flyweight gold on the line.
