The UFC 264: Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier fight card is down one massive fight as Kevin Lee has been forced to pull out of his bout with Sean Brady.
The return of renowned wrestler Lee to the welterweight division was viewed as one of the key attractions of the show's prelim card, particularly against the undefeated Sean Brady.
Brady was turning around from a March victory over Jake Matthews, and was preparing for the toughest test of his career in Kevin Lee, who was once a top five lightweight contender.
And Lee was set to make his return to the cage after almost a year-and-a-half out following his loss to Charles Oliveira in Brazil last year, competing in his first welterweight fight since early 2019.
“Unfortunately, I will not be fighting Kevin Lee on July 10," Brady said in an Instagram post.
"From my understanding, he has suffered an injury and had to pull out of the fight, my team is hoping to re-book the fight for August.”
“Thank you to all my family friends and fans who support me this is just a speed bump on my journey to being champ.”
Lee confirmed the news to veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani, and the bout is now expected to take place on August 7 if the sides can agree to terms.
This brings the fight card down to 13 bouts, with two early prelims, six televised prelims and five main card bouts, including the trilogy fight between McGregor and Poirier.
It is expected that the winner of McGregor v Poirier will face Charles Oliveira for the lightweight belt later this year, while the loser could be left considering their career.
McGregor has said that 'all the marbles' are on the line in this bout, and even world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has said that it could be 'curtains' for the Irishman if he loses
The pair have each won one of their previous meetings, with the Irishman dominating their first bout at UFC 178 and picking up an early first-round TKO.
But Poirier ended up back in the octagon with McGregor in January of this year at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, avenging his defeat with a second-round stoppage.
Both men fought the undefeated former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and seemed like unlikely candidates for a rematch given his dominance in both bouts.
But Oliveira provides a new challenge for both men, and could face either one of them later this year in his first title defence.
Updated UFC 264 Card
Main Card
Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier
Stephen Thompson vs Gilbert Burns
Tai Tuivasa vs Greg Hardy
Irene Aldana vs Yana Kunitskaya
Sean O'Malley vs Louis Smolka, bantamweight
Prelims
Carlos Condit vs Max Griffin
Niko Price vs Michel Pereira
Trevin Giles vs Dricus Du Plessis
Ryan Hall vs Ilia Topuria
Jennifer Maia vs Jessica Eye
Omari Akhmedov vs Brad Tavares
Early Prelims
Zhalgas Zhumaglov vs Jerome Rivera
Hu Yaozong vs Alen Amedovski
