Editor’s note: The article has been updated at 6:30 p.m. ET on
Dec. 15 to reflect the match’s total cancelation.
The year-end Ultimate Fighting Championship show is down one
preliminary matchup.
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Deron
Winn (7-3) was initially slated to take on Julian
Marquez (9-3) in a middleweight pairing on the
UFC Fight Night 216 prelims, but on Wednesday, disaster struck
for Winn. Per a Thursday statement on his social
media, Winn fell down stairs at the UFC Performance Institute
on Wednesday, resulting in head and neck trauma and inflicting him
with a concussion. Upon medical review at the hospital, Winn has
been pulled from the fight. The promotion will
not seek a replacement to face Marquez on short notice, despite
Marquez posting about the ease of his weight cut on his own
Instagram mere hours before Winn’s post.
“Hey all-,” the statement from Winn wrote, “yesterday at the UFC
PI, I fainted and had a freak accident. I fell down the stairs, hit
my head and neck pretty hard. Sustained a mild concussion. They
rushed me to the hospital and ran a bunch of tests on me. The
majority of the tests came back normal so I’m thankful for
that.”
Winn continued, “Since I suffered the concussion the UFC and
medical [staff have] decided to pull me from my fight his weekend.
I am devastated. I have put so much work in these last couple
months. I hope to rebook soon. Sorry to my opponent and sorry to
all [who] have invested in me this camp. I’m heartbroken. Love all
of you who support me.”
The
American Kickboxing Academy representative was aiming to get
back in the win column this year, as he met Phil Hawes
in June only to get put away with elbows. That outing was Winn’s
first since late 2020, which saw him claim a unanimous verdict over
Antonio
Arroyo. The remainder of his UFC tenure has been rocky, which
while starting with a decision over Eric
Spicely, continued with losses to Darren
Stewart and Gerald
Meerschaert prior to the Arroyo matchup.
Marquez was aiming to keep his 100% finish rate intact against
Winn, although he too lost his last fight by knockout. On the same
night that Hawes dispatched Winn, Gregory
Rodrigues punched him out in the first round to put an end to a
two-fight submission streak over Maki Pitolo
and Sam
Alvey. As a pro, “The Cuban Missile Crisis” has only needed to
go to the third round once to record a victory, with that coming
against the aforementioned Pitolo. Every one of his other eight
triumphs came within two rounds, which also includes a head kick
knockout of Hawes in 2017.
UFC Fight Night 216 will continue with 13 fights at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. The headliner remains a middleweight banger between
Jared
Cannonier and Sean
Strickland, while the co-featured attraction sees Arman
Tsarukyan and Damir
Ismagulov battle it out to break into the top echelon of the
lightweight picture. Other high-stakes matches on the card include
a 125-pound tilt as Amir Albazi
takes on Alessandro
Costa, and a lightweight slugfest when Drew Dober
throws down with Bobby Green.