Ray Borg, who was scheduled to headline Saturday’s UFC 215 against flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, was pulled from the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, event Thursday night due to an illness that wasn’t related to weight cutting.
Due to the late nature of the change, Johnson, who was going for the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses, is now off the show as well. UFC is looking at booking the fight as soon as possible.
The show will remain a PPV with a main event of women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko II. That fight was originally scheduled for this past summer, but had to be postponed due to a late pullout by Nunes due to complications from sinusitis.
MMA Fighting reported that Borg had been ill all week and had gotten progressively sicker. However, he was examined by UFC doctors who ruled he was too ill to fight and wouldn’t clear him. Borg said he was 133 pounds on Thursday morning, not a substantial weight cut to hit 125 by Friday morning.
Johnson came into the fight with ten straight title defenses, tying the all-time UFC record held originally by Anderson Silva. He has been the subject of controversy this summer after speaking out against Dana White when he attempted to get him to fight T.J. Dillashaw instead of Borg.
Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis now moves to a main card that also features former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos vs. Neil Magny, Ilir Latifi vs. Tyson Pedro, and Gilbert Melendez vs. Jeremy Stephens.