With UFC 297 just three weeks away, the first UFC Pay-Per-View event of 2024 has lost a light heavyweight match-up.
Dominick Reyes, a former title challenger at 205lbs, was to have faced Carlos Ulberg at the event on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, ON, Canada. However, on Saturday, Reyes announced that the fight was off, citing an injury (with pointed quotations marks) to opponent Ulberg.
“Hey everyone my fight Jan 20 has been called off due to my opponent’s ‘injury,'” Reyes wrote on his Instagram story. “We are currently looking at options or rescheduling. I’ve had a great camp and I’m def frustrated but God has a plan.”
No word on what the nature of Ulberg’s injury might be has been revealed. Dominick Reyes, 34, has not won a fight since 2019, prior to a failed title bit against Jon Jones the following year. While coming up short on the scorecards, however, Reyes (12-4) made an impression in the fight, with many feeling he had done enough to dethrone “Bones.”
Ulberg (9-1) has won his last five fights. He’s a member of City Kickboxing, alongside the likes of Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker.
A report by MMA Fighting suggests UFC Atlantic City later this year could be a landing point for Reyes vs. Ulberg. The event is set for March 30 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. As for UFC 297, the promotion’s first trip to Toronto since 2018 now includes the following reported match-ups:
- Sean Strickland (c) vs. Dricus du Plessis — for the UFC middleweight championship
- Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva — for the vacant UFC women’s bantamweight championship
- Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
- Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
- Brad Katona vs. Garrett Armfield
- Chris Curtis vs. Marc-André Barriault
- Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
- Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
- Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Priscila Cachoeira
- Malcolm Gordon vs. Jimmy Flick
