Darrick Minner was forced to withdraw from his matchup against Jordan Griffin at UFC Fight Night in June for what many thought was a weight cut issue, but according to the 30-year-old, that wasn’t the case.
“I just want to clear that up because it wasn’t really a weight cut issue,” Minner told Cageside Press. “I think I just got a stomach bug. It was weird. We cut five pounds in the morning and then when weighed in I was 151-pounds. Took a nap, then woke up around 7pm and I just had sharp pains going through my stomach. I didn’t really acknowledge them until I started dry heaving and I was nothing really left. This went on for six hours and then finally midnight, (the UFC doctors) called it and said, this is not safe and is not happening.”
Minner (24-11) will now take on DWCS winner TJ Laramie on Sept. 19, an opponent who he was quite familiar with already.
“I knew TJ’s name, I’ve actually, I fought on the card in Canada with him,” Minner explained. “He actually made like his pro debut that night. Actually weird enough, he goes and does his camp in Vegas with Xtreme Couture and 10th Planet. And so I’ve seen him around there because that’s where I usually do my camps and stuff too.”
Laramie (12-3) defeated Daniel Swain by first-round TKO on Contender Series: Week 2 earlier this month. The 22-year-old will be looking for his fourth straight win.
For this camp, Minner mentioned he’s training at Glory MMA in Missouri with UFC standouts James Krause, Tim Elliott and former opponent Grant Dawson. Being the more experienced fighter, Minner believes he’ll catch Laramie at some point during the fight to pickup his first UFC victory.
“I think the first round is gonna be fun and then it’s gonna be a back and forth battle,” Minner said. “I think I’m gonna catch him in something, I’m a finisher and so we’ll see what happens but I plan on finishing the fight.”
UFC Fight Night takes place on Sept. 19 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley faces Colby Covington in the main event.
