Several Fighters Off Of UFC On ESPN+ 31 Card
With just a day until the UFC returns to Las Vegas, the promotion has had to move fights around after multiple complications.
It all started when MMA Junkie reported that Timur Valiev was taken off of his fight against Jamall Emmers. Valiev (16-2) was set to make his UFC debut after stints with World Series of Fighting and the PFL. The reason for him being pulled is a result of visa issues according to the UFC.
Emmers (17-5), who is 4-1 in his last five fights, will now face off against Vincent Cachero. Cachero (7-2) will be making his UFC debut after a long stint with LFA. The 30-year-old is 2-2 in his last four fights and is coming off of a win against Marvin Garcia back in January.
MMA Junkie later revealed that Eric Spicely will no longer be competing in a middleweight bout against Markus Perez. Spicely (12-5) is 1-2 in his last three fights, his last fight a loss to Deron Winn back in June 2019. In a statement, Spicely stated that the Winn fight caused head trauma that required him to take antidepressants. The weight cut for this fight did not work well with the medication.
For the sake of transparency this was my first weight cut since starting antidepressants due to the head trauma I sustained in the Deron Winn fight. Needless to say it went horribly wrong and my fight is off. I will figure this problem out and hopefully be able to compete again. https://t.co/ZYro3waykE
— éS (@EricSpicely) July 31, 2020
Perez (12-3) is 3-3 in his last six fights. The 30-year-old lost his last bout against Willington Turman in November. According to Combate, Perez will face off against Charlie Ontiveros in a 195-pound catchweight bout. Ontiveros (11-6) is on a two-fight win streak. Fighting for Bellator, LFA, and Fury, Ontiveros won his last fight in December for the latter promotion against Washington Luiz.
Finally, Ray Borg is once again out of a scheduled bout, this time against Nathan Maness. According to MMA Junkie, Borg is out for undisclosed reasons. Borg (13-5) is 2-3 in his last five fights dating back to 2017. The former UFC Flyweight Title contender recently rejoined the bantamweight division, facing Ricky Simon back in May. He would lose to Simon via split decision, ending a two-fight win streak.
“The Tazmexican Devil” was supposed to fight on June 13 against Merab Dvalishvili. He ended up backing out due to personal reasons. Maness (11-1) made his professional debut in 2013. The 29-year-old was on a ten-fight win streak until losing to Taylor Lapilus in 2019. He last fought in February, beating Kellen VanCamp via knockout, his fourth win via KO. He will now reportedly face Johnny Munoz. Munoz (10-0) has fought for King of the Cage since 2015. He won two fights in 2019, the last win against Ian King via submission, his sixth.
This adds to UFC on ESPN+ 31’s ever-changing card. The main event was supposed to be Holly Holm v. Irene Aldana, but the latter had to back out of the fight. Derek Brunson v. Edmen Shahbazyan is the new main event. UFC on ESPN+ 31 will be taking place inside the UFC’s APEX Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.