The matchup between former teammates Diego Sanchez and Donald Cerrone won’t go down at UFC on ESPN 24.
Sanchez (30-13 MMA, 19-13 UFC) won’t be competing against Cerrone (36-15-1 MMA, 23-12-1 UFC) in next month’s welterweight co-main event, a person close to the situation verified with MMA Junkie on Wednesday following an initial report from MMA reporter Carlos Contreras Legaspi. A replacement is currently being sought.
UFC on ESPN 24 takes place May 8 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
A reason for Sanchez’s removal from the card, be it injury or something else, is unclear at this time. It was expected to be his retirement bout from MMA competition, but now he’ll no longer face former Jackson Wink MMA teammate “Cowboy.”
It comes as the second notable hit to UFC on ESPN 24 in the past 24 hours, after the card lost its original headliner of Cory Sandhagen vs. T.J. Dillashaw when former champ Dillashaw sustained a cut in training that then got infected, as well.
Prior to his removal from the card, Sanchez took to social media to voice displeasure with the UFC for leaving him and his team at the airport in Las Vegas following his UFC 253 loss to Jake Matthews this past September.
“I am not sure what is going on with this Billion dollar company but clearly there are some issues,” Sanchez wrote on Instagram.
The UFC on ESPN 24 lineup now includes:
- Cory Sandhagen vs. TBA
- Donald Cerrone vs. TBA
- Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ryan Benoit
- Maurice Greene vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
- Christian Aguilera vs. Carlston Harris
- Tafon Nchukwi vs. Jun Yong Park
- Philipe Lins vs. Ben Rothwell
- Angela Hill vs. Amanda Ribas
- Neil Magny vs. Geoff Neal
- Ludovit Klein vs. Mike Trizano
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Phil Hawes
- Diego Ferreira vs. Gregor Gillespie
