A nasty gash has forced lightweight Nikolas Motta out of his UFC 287 bout.
Motta announced his withdrawal Friday and shared a graphic image of the gaping laceration, which is placed on his right eyebrow line. Motta (13-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was expected to face Ignacio Bahamondes (13-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at the April 8 event in Miami, but now will have to wait a little longer for his return to the cage. The promotion is currently seeking a replacement to fight Bahamondes, a source told MMA Junkie.
“I had a lot stitches all my career but never had one deep like that, this white part on my cut in the second picture is my tendon, it got very swollen and inflamed,” Motta wrote on Instagram.
Motta, 30, is a former CFFC champion who has been with the promotion since November 2020. However, due to injuries and opponent mishaps, Motta has only competed twice. After a debut loss to Jim Miller, Motta picked up his first UFC victory in September when he knocked out Cameron VanCamp.
With the change, the UFC 287 lineup now includes:
- Champion Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya – for middleweight title
- Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
- Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
- Luana Pinheiro vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
- Steve Garcia vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
- Chris Curtis vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joseph Pyfer
- Michael Chiesa vs. Li Jingliang
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Sam Hughes
- Chris Barnett vs. Chase Sherman
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. TBA
