Erick Gonzalez will not fight on March’s UFC 272 card as planned.
On Thursday, the fighter known as “Ghost Pepper” announced that due to an injury requiring stitches to the bottom of his foot, he’d been forced to pull out of his bout with Devonte Smith.
“Hey everyone just wanna reach out to let you know I will no longer be fighting March 5th. I suffered an injury that involved me having to get 3 stitches to the bottom of my foot,” Gonzalez wrote on social media. “Thank you for all the support and love I have been receiving during camp, Ill be back soon as I can.”
A Combate Americas standout, Gonzalez (14-6) joined the UFC last year, only to find himself knocked out at the hands of veteran lightweight Jim Miller. The Smith fight was to be his sophomore trip to the octagon.
Prior to joining the UFC, Gonzalez had strung together a four-fight winning streak.
Smith (11-3) is 3-2 inside the octagon to date. Most recently, he came up short against Jamie Mullarkey, losing their October contest via TKO.
It’s currently unclear as to whether the promotion will seek a replacement opponent for Smith.
UFC 272 goes down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 5, 2022. The following fights have been reported for the event to date:
- Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev
- Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell
- Kevin Holland vs. Alex Oliveira
- Sergey Spivak vs. Greg Hardy
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Maryna Moroz vs. Mariya Agapova
- Jalin Turner vs. Jamie Mullarkey
- Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
- Tim Elliott vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Jessica Eye vs. Manon Fiorot
- Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Dustin Jacoby
- Brian Kelleher vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
