Jared Gordon will no longer compete against Jim Miller on Saturday.
The lightweight bout was set to take place on the main card of UFC on ESPN 45, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs live on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
Gordon (19-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has been removed from the bout, but Miller (35-17 MMA, 24-16 UFC) will remain on the card to face a new opponent in debuting Jesse Butler (12-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
MMA Junkie confirmed the news following Fight Bananas‘ David Van Auken’s first report of Gordon’s removal from the bout, and Eurosport NL‘s Marcel Dorff’s report of Miller’s replacement opponent.
Gordon, 34, was set to fill in for Ludovit Klein against Miller. It would have been a quick turnaround after a no contest result due to an accidental clash of heads against Bobby Green at UFC Fight Night 222 on April 22.
At media day Wednesday, Gordon revealed he suffered a mild concussion in the fight against Green. In addition, he said he weighed 193 pounds when he was asked to take the fight against Miller 17 days prior to the fight date for the lightweight bout.
Miller, 39, keeps his date following a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Hernandez in February, Miller rattled off three straight wins over Erick Gonzalez, Nikolas Motta and Donald Cerrone.
Butler, 31, will make his UFC debut on two days’ notice. The 31-year-old fighter typically competes at featherweight, but will step in for the opportunity to fight on a UFC card in a lightweight bout. Butler’s previous outing was a unanimous decision win over Luis Luna at Fury FC 75 in February, and is currently on a five-fight winning streak.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN 45 lineup now includes:
- Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi
- Alex Caceres vs. Daniel Pineda
- Jim Miller vs. Jesse Butler
- Victor Altamirano vs. Tim Elliott
- Karine Silva vs. Ketlen Souza
- Jamie Mullarkey vs. Muhammad Naimov
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
- John Castaneda vs. Muin Gafurov
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Don’Tale Mayes
- Johnny Munoz vs. Daniel Santos
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Elise Reed
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Luan Lacerda
- Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins
