Australian lightweight Jamie Mullarkey has been forced to withdraw from UFC on ESPN+ 26.
MMA Junkie today confirmed with UFC officials that injury has forced Mullarkey (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) out of the event, which takes place Feb. 22 (Feb. 23 locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. A search is now underway for a new opponent for Jalin Turner (8-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC).
Turner was in action most recently in April, suffering a disappointing decision loss to Matt Frevola. That followed a scintillating 53-second TKO of Callan Potter at February’s UFC 234 in Australia. “The Tarantula” now looks for a new opponent in his return to action after 10 months on the sidelines.
A timetable for Mullarkey’s return wasn’t immediately established.
The latest UFC on ESPN+ 26 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
- Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell
- Kevin Aguilar vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
- Jalin Turner vs. opponent TBA
- Jake Matthews vs. Emil Meek
- Song Kenan vs. Callan Potter
- Kai Kara-France vs. Tyson Nam
- Hannah Goldy vs. Loma Lookboonmee
- Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Shana Dobson
