Some sort of flu wave seems to be washing over the fighter hotel in
Las Vegas this week.
On Wednesday, Ian Garry was
forced out of his pairing with Vicente
Luque due to a flu illness that developed into pneumonia.
Another welterweight matchup from
UFC 296 is off the table due to a similar situation. First
reported by MMA
Mania, Randy Brown
(17-5) succumbed to the flu that put him in the hospital. As a
result, he has withdrawn from his battle with Muslim
Salikhov (19-4) on Saturday.
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It is unclear if the promotion will be able to slot in late
replacement fighters for either Luque or Salikhov, or pair them up
against one another. Kevin
Holland has been calling for the former, asking for a 180-pound
catchweight contest with Luque. The news was subsequently confirmed
by
multiple outlets as well as Brown on Thursday
night.
A disappointed Brown posted about his illness on Thursday, writing, “The news is unfortunate. I did everything possible to stay in the
fight but when I went to the hospital the doctors deemed me unfit
to compete due to the flu. I’ll be back early next year to put on a
banger.”
Brown was aiming to get some momentum going after returning to the
win column with a decision victory over Wellington
Turman in June. That put a submission defeat to Jack
Della Maddalena in February in the rear-view mirror. Before
getting tapped by Maddalena, Brown had won four straight, putting
away Alex
Oliveira and then claiming decision over Jared
Gooden, Kalinn
Williams and Francisco
Trinaldo in 2021 and 2022.
“The King of Kung Fu” was searching for his first victory this
year, as his previous 2023 appearance did not go his way when
Nicolas
Dalby outworked him over three rounds. The 39-year-old has
alternated wins and losses in his last four, although he retains a
highlight-reel knockout of Andre
Fialho in 2022 when he wiped out the Portugal-based fighter
with a spinning wheel kick. Throughout his career, Salikhov has
officially notched five triumphs via spinning strike.
At the moment, UFC 296 will carry on with 12 bouts—assuming Luque
and Salikhov do not get new opponents—on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile
Arena in Las Vegas. It will conclude with a 170-pound championship
headliner of Leon
Edwards vs. Colby
Covington still intact. The co-main attraction for flyweight
gold sees Alexandre
Pantoja rematch Brandon
Royval. Additionally on the main card, Shavkat
Rakhmonov throws down with Stephen
Thompson in a pivotal welterweight clash, while Tony
Ferguson looks for his first win in over four years when he
takes on Paddy
Pimblett.