Garbrandt, Dillashaw fight called off
White says that the bantamweight title fight between Garbrandt and Dillashaw has been officially called off, due to a Garbrandt back injury. Dillashaw will be rebooked to a flyweight title fight against 10-time defending champion Demetrious Johnson in August. However, Johnson, has said that he’s not interested in such a fight. A newly announced interim middleweight title fight featuring Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will serve as the UFC 213 co-main event. The card will be headlined by female bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who is defending her title against Valentina Shevchenko. White:
After [Cody’s] last round of treatment in Germany, they told him he’d need four weeks to rest. That would have put him two weeks out from the fight. With Cody out, we’re going to make T.J. versus Mighty Mouse [Johnson]. That’s the plan.
Secret service rules out UFC 205 attendance
The Secret Service tells Trump they have security concerns with him attending UFC 205. His son, Donald Trump Jr. attends in his place. White:
Having met President Barack Obama on Thursday, and amidst protests at his election, Trump may swerve the engagement. He’s been a friend of mine for 15, 16 years. I’m happy for him.
McGregor pulled from UFC 200
UFC President White says that McGregor has been pulled from UFC 200 because he had refused to fly to Las Vegas to help promote the event. He says UFC is working on scheduling another fight for Diaz, and will add another bout to UFC 200.
What’s happened is we pulled Conor McGregor from UFC 200 and we’re working on other fights right now. Conor did not want to come to Las Vegas and film the commercial or be a part of any of the marketing we have. He’s in Iceland training and that’s not possible… Is Conor McGregor retiring? Only he can answer that question…Obviously we still have, as far as I’m concerned, a good relationship with Conor. I respect Conor as a fighter and I like him as a person, but you can’t decide to not show up to these things. You have to do it.