Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez has issued a statement explaining why he’s pulled out of his main event fight with Reiner de Ridder at UFC Fight Night 262 in Vancouver, Canada next month.

“As you’ve all probably seen unfortunately, I’ve had to pull out of my upcoming fight due to injury,” Hernandez wrote. “I want to sincerely apologize to the UFC, to my opponent [de Ridder] , and to everyone who was looking forward to this matchup.

“I also want to thank [Brendan Allen] for stepping up, it means a lot. To my fans, thank you for always tuning in, supporting me, and riding with me through everything.

“Right now my focus is on getting healthy so I can come back stronger than ever. When I return, I’ll be ready to make a statement.“

It was unfortunate to see this fight fall through as it was an intriguing clash with potential middleweight title implications given that the No.6 ranked Hernandez is on an eight-fight winning streak, while the No.4 placed de Ridder has won all four of his fights since joining less than a year ago.

As Hernandez mentions, de Ridder will now fight the No.11 ranked Brendan Allen instead, which means it’s still possible the Dutchman could still fight his way to a title shot, though the No.2 ranked Nassourdine Imavov will fancy his chances even more now after beating Caio Borralho earlier this month.