The roller coaster ride that is UFC Vegas 39 has hit another bump in the road.
During Friday’s official weigh-in, the middleweight bout between Phil Hawes and Chris Curtis was scratched from the card. The development came after Curtis stepped up on on short notice to replace Deron Winn, who was removed from the event due to a non-weight cutting related heath problem, per UFC officials.
Despite Curtis successfully making weight, the modified fight was called off without Hawes ever hitting the scale.
MMA Fighting was first to report news of the cancellation. ESPN later reported that Hawes did not accept the fight with Curtis.
Curtis (26-8), a PFL veteran who competed in the league’s 2019 season, currently sits on a five-fight win streak. “The Action Man” was making his promotional debut in the fight.
Hawes (11-2) has won all three of his UFC fights to date after joining to promotion following his second appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series. He has won seven straight overall.
Saturday’s UFC Vegas 39 card is now down to nine fights, and currently breaks down as follows:
Mackenzie Dern vs. Marina Rodriguez
Randy Brown vs. Jared Gooden
Tim Elliott vs. Matheus Nicolau
Sabina Mazo vs. Mariya Agapova
Chris Gutiérrez vs. Felipe Colares
Alexander Romanov vs. Jared Vanderaa
Charles Rosa vs. Damon Jackson
Lupita Godinez vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez
Steve Garcia vs. Charlie Ontiveros
