Edson Barboza has been forced out of his upcoming fight against Ilia Topuria.
Barboza (22-11 MMA, 16-11 UFC) was scheduled to meet Topuria (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 29 at the UFC Apex, but he has withdrawn after suffering a knee injury that will require surgery. It is unknown if Topuria will remain on the card.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial report by MMA Fighting.
Barboza, 36, was looking to snap a two-fight losing skid. After back-to-back wins over Makwan Amirkhani and a knockout of Shane Burgos at UFC 262, the Brazilian dropped two straight fights to Giga Chikadze and, most recently, Bryce Mitchell at UFC 272 in March.
Meanwhile, unbeaten Topuria is coming off his successful lightweight debut when he scored a bonus-winning knockout of Jai Herbert at UFC Fight Night 204 in March. He was returning to his original weight class before Barboza was forced out.
With the change, the Oct. 29 lineup includes:
- Arnold Allen vs. Calvin Kattar
- Ilia Topuria vs. TBA
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Khalil Rountree
- Roman Dolidze vs. Phil Hawes
- Max Griffin vs. Tim Means
- Steve Garcia vs. Chase Hooper
- Joseph Holmes vs. Jun Yong Park
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Jared Vanderaa
- Garrett Armfield vs. Christian Rodriguez
- Josh Fremd vs. Tresean Gore
- Cody Durden vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
