Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, UFC 177 has suffered another last minute injury call-off, and it’s headliner Renan Barao who’s now been forced to pull out of the jinxed pay-per-view card.
Barao is reported to have taken ill as he made his weight cut down to the 135lb limit required for a title bout and was subsequently removed from the card and taken to hospital.
According to Brazilian site Globo, the former champion lost consciousness and hit his head in his hotel bathtub during his weight cut, but after visiting a local hospital he’s now returned to his hotel.
In a last ditch attempt to save the card the UFC have now drafted in Joe Soto to fight bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw instead.
Soto, a former Bellator featherweight champion back in 2009, had been set to make his UFC debut against Anthony Birchak in the preliminary portion of the card, but now he’s been thrown into by far the biggest fight of his career on just a day’s notice.
Soto is currently on a six fight win streak fighting primarily for the Tachi Palace Fights and holds an overall 15-2 record.
Needless to say this is a disaster for the UFC, with Dillashaw Vs Barao having been seen by many people as the only UFC 177 fight worth watching.
However, as things stand the promotion still intend to proceed with what’s now become just an eight card line-up for what’s without doubt their weakest ever offering on pay-per-view.
Here’s what the line-up now looks like:
Main Card:
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Joe Soto
Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo
Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Ramsey Nijem
Damon Jackson vs. Yancy Medeiros
Prelims:
Lorenz Larkin vs. Derek Brunson
Ruan Potts vs. Anthony Hamilton
Chris Wade vs. Cain Carrizosa
