The anticipated clash between Valter Walker and Mohammad Usman, set for UFC Rio this Saturday night, has been scrapped after Usman suffered an injury, forcing him out of the bout.
The cancellation removes one of the card’s most intriguing heavyweight matchups, leaving Walker without an opponent just days before fight night.
It’s unclear what the injury was that took Usman (11-4) out of the fight. The younger brother of former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was coming off a decision victory over Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC Baku.
Walker (14-1) may lose some momentum with the cancellation. The surging heavyweight has won and finished his last three fights, all by heel hook, one of the most difficult submissions to execute in MMA.
Without that bout UFC Rio looks as follows:
- #4 Charles Oliveira vs. #8 Mateusz Gamrot
- #6 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. #15 Montel Jackson
- Vicente Luque vs. Joel Alvarez
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto
- Ricardo Ramos vs. Kaan Ofli
- Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell Jr.
- Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter
- Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen
- Bia Mesquita vs. Irina Alekseeva
- Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll
- Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Saimon Oliveira vs. Luan Lacerda
UFC Rio takes place this Saturday Oct. 11 from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
