Warlley Alves has withdrawn from his scheduled bout against Jack Della Maddalena.
While the reasoning for the withdrawal was not disclosed, Alves (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) is out and the search is underway for a replacement opponent to fight promotional newcomer Della Maddalena (10-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC 270.
The event takes place Jan. 22 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Two people with knowledge of the change recently informed MMA Junkie of Alves’ removal, but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
The withdrawal is Alves’ first since 2017. He is coming off a knockout loss against Jeremiah Wells in June.
Della Maddalena enters the UFC after an impressive contract-earning performance on Dana White’s Contender Series when he defeated Ange Loosa by unanimous decision. Fighting out of Australia, Della Maddalena captured the Eternal MMA welterweight championship prior to his move to the UFC.
With the change, the UFC 270 lineup includes:
- Champion Francis Ngannou vs. interim champion Ciryl Gane – for heavyweight title
- Champion Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for flyweight title
- Greg Hardy vs. Aleksei Oleinik
- Movsar Evloev vs. Ilia Topuria
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Cody Stamann
- Viviane Aruajo vs. Alexa Grasso
- Wellington Turman vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Trevin Giles vs. Michael Morales
- Matt Frevola vs. Genaro Valdez
- Tony Gravely vs. Saimon Oliveira
- Poliana Botelho vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Victor Henry
- Jack Della Maddalena vs. TBA
