UFC middleweight David Branch will not be competing at UFC on ESPN+ 16 in Vancouver.
Branch (22-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC), a former WSOF two-division champion, has withdrawn from his bout against “TUF 23” winner Andrew Sanchez (11-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC). A reason for Branch’s withdrawal is unknown at this time.
Two persons with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie of Branch’s withdrawal. The persons asked to remain anonymous since the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN+ 16 takes place Sept. 14 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The entire card streams on ESPN+.
Branch, 37, is riding a two-fight losing skid dating back to early 2018. Prior to back-to-back losses to Jack Hermansson and Jared Cannonier, Branch finished former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos with a first-round TKO.
After he made the move to the UFC from WSOF, Branch picked up a split-decision win over over Krzysztof Jotko before a loss to former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.
“El Dirte” Sanchez is on a two-fight winning streak with victories over Markus Perez and Marc-Andre Barriault. It is not known if the 31-year-old middleweight will remain on the card against a new opponent.
The UFC on ESPN+ 16 lineup includes:
- Donald Cerrone vs. Justin Gaethje
- Nikita Krylov vs. Glover Teixeira
- Andrew Sanchez vs. opponent TBA
- Augusto Sakai vs. Marcin Tybura
- Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Uriah Hall
- Todd Duffee vs. Jeff Hughes
- Misha Cirkunov vs. Jim Crute
- Ryan MacDonald vs. Louis Smolka
- Miles Johns vs. Cole Smith
- Austin Hubbard vs. Kyle Prepolec
- Sergey Khandozhko vs. Michael Pereira
