UFC Fight Night 200 has lost one of its scheduled main card matchups.
Phil Hawes is out of his planned middleweight matchup with Sam Alvey on Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Alvey (33-16-1 MMA, 10-11-1 UFC) on Tuesday announced news of the scratched bout with Hawes (11-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) on social media (via YouTube):
I was supposed to fight on Saturday, and I got the call, and they said it’s canceled. You want to make ‘Smile’n’ Sam stop smiling, take his fight away.
Alvey didn’t know the exact reason for Hawes’ withdrawal but said he heard an unconfirmed story about an injury.
The UFC historically has been proactive about finding short-notice replacements – even during fight week – but Alvey gave no indication the promotion is finding him a new opponent for this card. Moreover, Alvey said he snacked on pizza and cereal after UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard informed his manager the bout was off.
Alvey is currently riding a seven-fight winless skid. If he loses next, Alvey would match B.J. Penn for most consecutive fights without a victory in UFC history.
The latest UFC Fight Night 200 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland
- Nick Maximov vs. Punahele Soriano
- Carlston Harris vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Bryan Battle vs. Tresean Gore
- Julian Erosa vs. Steven Peterson
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- John Castaneda vs. Miles Johns
- Hakeem Dawodu vs. Mike Trizano
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chidi Njokuani
- Phil Rowe vs. Jason Witt
- Alexis Davis vs. Julija Stoliarenko
- Jailton Almeida vs. Danilo Marques
- Denys Bondar vs. Malcolm Gordon
