UFC officials announced Sunday that John Lineker (30-8) out of his matchup Saturday against Jimmie Rivera (21-1) at UFC 219 due to injury. No word on who will replace Lineker against Rivera in this bantamweight matchup. Linkeker issued a statement following his removal from the card
“I am really sad to have to withdraw from my fight with Rivera. I felt a little pain in the beginning of the week, went to the dentist and got treated, but (the pain) just kept getting worse. I came to Las Vegas early and tried to stay in the fight, but it was simply impossible.I would like to apologize to Rivera. I know how much it sucks when this happens. I want to apologize to Sean Shelby and the UFC. I begged them for the fight, and they agreed, and how I feel horrible to have to withdraw. And I need to apologize to the fans. I know that this would have been a great fight and everyone was looking forward to it,” Lineker said. “Hopefully Rivera and the UFC will agree to reschedule as soon as I can be ready to fight again.”
Here’s an updated look at the card.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm – for women’s featherweight title
Edson Barboza vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Jimmie Rivera vs. TBA
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)
Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Khalil Rountree
Marc Diakiese vs. Dan Hooker
Rick Glenn vs. Myles Jury
Matheus Nicolau vs. Louis Smolka
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Mark Delarosa vs. Tim Elliott
Omari Akhmedov vs. Marvin Vettori
