Yet another fight is gone from Saturday’s UFC event. Louis Smolka vs. Jose Quinonez is the latest bout to fall off UFC Vegas 14, confirmed at the start of the broadcast by UFC officials.
Unfortunately “The Last Samurai” Louis Smolka was taken off the card due to weight cutting/health complications. Set to face Jose Alberto, Smolka (16-7) was on his second run in the UFC. In his first, he piled up four losses after a strong start to his run, and the UFC decided the best course of action was to release him from his contract. However, the bantamweight fighter earned his spot back, despite a couple of hiccups.
The loss of Smolka vs. Quinonez is another gut punch to an already skinny card, especially given it’s too late to replace the fight. An important factor to note about this mishap is that Smolka missed weight by three pounds at weigh-in the day prior. Seemingly the trend of the week, two others missed weight for Saturday’s event: Abdul Razak Alhassan and Eryk Anders. Saparbek Safarov, meanwhile, never even made it to the scale.
The UFC Fight Night 182 card will now feature nine bouts in total.
Confirming the news on social media, Jose Quinonez (8-4) wrote that his plan in to remain in Las Vegas, in the hopes that the fight could be rebooked next week. “For health reasons my opponent is out of the fight, we still do not know if the doctors will let him fight for next week,” he stated, “so I am staying in Vegas to wait for him or I will notify you of new news. Thanks for all your support.”
