UFC on ESPN+ 17 has taken its first hit.
Alex Perez is out of his flyweight bout vs. Sergio Pettis, which was set to take place at the Sept. 21 event from Mexico City Arena in Mexico City.
Perez took to Instagram on Monday to announce the news of his withdrawal.
Im so heartbroken to announce that I have to pull out of my fight in September. Due to a injury. This was a hard decision but can’t risk injuring myself more. I want to apologize to everyone friends family and all my sponsors! Thanks for the support, I’ll be back better than ever!
Sponsor if you need money back please send me a DM so I can send it back to you. 💔💔💔
Perez (22-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) made the move back up to bantamweight in his last outing, defeating Mark De La Rosa via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 2.
Pettis (17-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), on the other hand, had an unsuccessful return to bantamweight when he lost a unanimous decision to Rob Font at UFC on Fox 31 last December, dropping his second fight in a row. Following the defeat, Pettis decided to make the move back down to flyweight.
A person with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie that Pettis is expected to remain on the card as a replacement is sought.
