After Stipe Miocic pulled out of his co-main event fight at next weekend’s UFC Fight Night 76 event in Dublin, Ireland, his opponent Ben Rothwell has also now been removed from the card.
Unfortunately, the UFC were not able to find a suitable heavyweight opponent for the No.7 ranked Rothwell on short notice and so were left with no option but to withdraw him. At this stage there’s no word on alternative arrangements for the two fighters, though Miocic’s injury is not believed to be serious and so it’s possible the two could fight on a card later in the year.
Meanwhile, the UFC taken the decision to move a fight between Norman Parke and Reza Madadi, which had originally been scheduled to serve as the featured preliminary bout, all the way up to the co-main event spot on the four-fight main card.
Parke, who hails from Northern Ireland and won the TUF: The Smashes show in 2012 is currently on a two-fight losing streak, while Madadi is returning to the UFC after over two years out of action serving time behind bars in his native Sweden on an aggravated burglary charge.
The UFC: Dublin card was already relatively light on star power and has undoubtedly been weakened by the loss of the heavyweight co-headliner, but nonetheless it still proceeds with an 11 fight card including the main event between Irelands own Patrick Duffy and Dustin Poirier.
