UFC fight cancelled after event already started

UFC Vegas 80 lost a fight after the card already started broadcasting.

By: Jack Wannan | 5 months
UFC fight cancelled after event already started
Philipe Lins reportedly won't be appearing at Saturday's UFC Fight Night. | Louis Grasse / IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Rumblings about a fight falling off the UFC Vegas 80 lineup started to emerge after the event had already gone on air. Saturday’s Fight Night card from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, lost what was expected to be its feature prelim last minute, bringing the card down to 10 fights in total.

A light heavyweight bout between Philipe Lins and Ion Cutelaba fell off the card this weekend, as first reported by John Morgan. Roughly an hour after that report came out, the UFC broadcast announced that Lins withdrew from the fight due to an illness. It was mentioned on the broadcast that UFC is currently looking to move the fight to next week’s show.

Light heavyweights Lins, Cutelaba off UFC Vegas 80

Both Lins and Cutelaba made weight for their fight on Friday seemingly without trouble, with Lins even coming a pound under the championship limit.

The reported removal of Lins vs. Cutelaba this week stops the light heavyweight talents from building on their recent success.

Lins was looking to continue some recent momentum this weekend. He is currently on a three-fight winning streak, including two victories from this year. In recent months he has earned a decision nod over Maxim Grishin and a 49-second finish victory over Ovince St. Preux.

Cutelaba was looking to continue to get things back on track this weekend. Cutelaba broke a three-fight streak of finish losses in his April appearance, stopping Tanner Boser in the first round with strikes. That fight was just his second win since 2019.

Here’s an updated look at tonight’s ongoing UFC card, which is now down to 10 bouts in total. For up-to-the-minute updates on the card, check out our live coverage article here.

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Main Card (7 p.m. ET) (ESPN+)

  • Lightweight: Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green
  • Middleweight: Joe Pyfer vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
  • Welterweight: Alex Morono vs. Joaquin Buckley
  • Lightweight: Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn
  • Featherweight: Bill Algeo vs. Alexander Hernandez

Preliminary Card (4 p.m. ET) (ESPN+)

  • Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Diana Belbita
  • Flyweight: Nate Maness vs. Mateus Mendonca
  • Strawweight: Kanako Murata vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
  • Bantamweight: Johnny Munhoz Jr. vs. Aoriqileng
  • Flyweight: Montana De La Rosa vs. JJ Aldrich

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About the author
Jack Wannan
Jack Wannan

Jack Wannan is a reporter for Bloody Elbow. He joined the site in 2023 after previously writing for MMA-Prospects.com and Knockdown News. He is currently in the process of earning a bachelor's degree in journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University.

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