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“Dana Needs to Do Something” – Hours After Main Event Falls off Due to “Broken Ribs,” 2 More Cancellations From UFC 288 & 289 Stuns Fans

Published 05/03/2023, 2:38 AM EDT

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Disappointing news for UFC fans as president Dana White announced multiple changes for the upcoming PPVs. In a recent announcement he made via his social media, White revealed that multiple fights had been restructured on the UFC 288 and UFC 289 cards after fighters pulled out due to injury. This has upset the fans even more as both these cards were already notoriously unimpressive among the audience.

In his announcement, Dana White stated that Bryce Mitchell vs. Movsar Evloev was off UFC 288 after Mitchell pulled out with an injury. The news had broken earlier than White’s announcement. So it may not have surprised many fans to know that newcomer Diego Lopes was stepping in on short notice to face the undefeated Evloev at UFC 288.

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However, the absolute shocker was the other announcement he made. The trilogy between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena for the women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 289 is now off. Pena suffered broken ribs that forced her out of the Canada PPV. As a replacement for the ‘Venezuelan Vixen’ Mexico’s Irene Aldana will step in to face Amanda Nunes in June.

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Additionally, UFC 289 lost another fan-favorite matchup as the scheduled welterweight bout between Stephen Thompson and Michel Pereira is also off. Initial reports state that the fight has been pushed to July. The reason for the postponement seems to be that contracts for the bout were never sent to the fighters.

Fans react to the UFC PPV updates from Dana White

Several fans were more than disappointed with the cancellation and restructuring of the upcoming UFC PPV cards. However, there were also those that preferred the new fights over the old ones. Hence, White’s announcements were met with mixed reactions.

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One fan felt sorry for Pena losing out on her trilogy title bout.

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Meanwhile, some other fans preferred the new UFC 289 main event over the canceled one.

A section of fans observed how the Canada card was bleeding the little quality it had in the first place.

One fan complained about the PPV prices the promotion is charging for these cards despite it losing good fights.

One fan called for White to do something about the frequent fight cancellations.

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While athletes’ health is of paramount importance, losing entertaining fights is disappointing for fans and the promotion. How do you think these new fights compare to the canceled ones?

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Written by:

Yeswanth Praveen

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Yeswanth Praveen is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports, having written over 500 articles on the sport. With a Master’s degree in English Literature, Yeswanth expertly combines his writing and storytelling skills with his passion for MMA. He was initially drawn to the sport after the intense rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov captured his attention.
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Edited by:

Anuj Jacob