Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2 UFC 329 card hasn’t suffered too many major cancellations yet. Most of the main card fights remain intact so far. However, the same cannot be said for the prelims, as two particular bouts have already undergone changes before the card reaches T-Mobile Arena on July 11. Still, it seems the dark cloud of fight cancellations may not have fully lifted just yet after a flyweight contender’s cryptic social media post sparked fresh concern.

Veteran 125 lbs contender Charles Johnson revealed in an X post that he’s flying to Las Vegas soon and hinted that there’s good news on the way for fans.

“Can’t wait to see fans in Vegas and enjoy the show 📈☎️ Good news soon #INNERG #ufc,” Johnson wrote.

Though the 35-year-old’s post didn’t reveal much, a separate post from renowned journalist Adam Martin quickly added more to the speculation. Sharing the 135 lbs contender’s post, Martin wrote, “So who’s out 👀👀,” implying that Johnson might be on his way to replace a fighter who has pulled out from the event.

While last-minute fight cancellations are common for most UFC cards, UFC 329 has only seen two notable fights altered, and that too on the prelims. The promotion originally booked a compelling flyweight matchup between Ode Osbourne and Cody Durden. However, the Jamaican-American withdrew because of an undisclosed injury. Soon, Alessandro Costa was brought in on short notice to save the bout.

Later, rising bantamweight prospect Ethyn Ewing also pulled out of his bout against the undefeated Farid Basharat as a result of an undisclosed injury, prompting the UFC to replace him with debutant John Garza. As a result, all 14 bouts on the card remain intact, a rare occurrence for a numbered event of this magnitude.

So as of now, no additional reports of cancellations have surfaced. However, Johnson’s post, followed by Martin’s reaction, has fueled speculation that another withdrawal may have occurred but has yet to be officially revealed.

However, there’s another flyweight bout on the main card between Brandon Royval and Lone’er Kavanagh that hasn’t gone through any reported cancellations. But, since Johnson primarily competes at 125 lbs, if he is indeed stepping in on short notice, the most likely options would be either the Royval vs. Kavanagh matchup or the Durden vs. Costa fight.

Interestingly, Johnson has a history of stepping in on short notice for the promotion. He previously accepted a fight against Bruno Silva on a little over a month’s notice at UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Vallejos after the UFC moved Silva’s original opponent, Lone’er Kavanagh, to face Brandon Moreno at the UFC Mexico City Fight Night event.

For that, many fans believe Charles Johnson could once again be flying to Las Vegas to save another undisclosed fight that has quietly fallen through, despite competing just days ago vs Asu Almabayev in UFC Baku.

Fans fear another UFC 329 fight cancellation after Charles Johnson’s cryptic post

One fan quickly chimed in and wrote, “Him Vs Basharat? Ethan was out.” After that, another user speculated, “There’s another 125lbs fight on there, Costa vs Durden, maybe it’s that.” A different fan then wondered, “Royval loner?”

Though no reports have emerged suggesting any of those fights are in danger of being canceled, Charles Johnson could realistically step into any of them and still put on a show. Pointing that out, another fan suggested that ‘Inner G’ versus Alessandro Costa, who is currently scheduled to face Cody Durden at UFC 329, would make for a thrilling matchup: “Short notice vs Costa would be awesome.”

As the speculation around Johnson’s next fight continued, some fans also pointed out that the 35-year-old had just fought Asu Almabayev at UFC Baku on June 27, where he lost via Suloev Stretch submission. Because of that, they were skeptical that Johnson could make such a quick turnaround.

“How can his body possibly take this much damage and weight cutting? This is crazy, man,” one fan wrote about Johnson’s rumored comeback at UFC 329.

To be fair, UFC fans are no strangers to fighters making incredibly quick turnarounds. Most famously, Khamzat Chimaev returned just 10 days after submitting John Phillips on July 15, 2020, and went on to score another first-round finish against Rhys McKee on July 25. However, what would make Johnson’s turnaround even more remarkable is that his last fight nearly went the full three rounds, and he would potentially have to endure another weight cut again.

With that in mind, another fan believes that if the UFC veteran does return, it would likely be at bantamweight. “4 days from the fight, no way he is cutting to flyweight, it’s probably gonna be at bantamweight.”

Well, UFC 329 still features a couple of bantamweight bouts, and if one of those fights has quietly fallen through, Johnson could potentially step in if his current weight remains within range. After that, another fan also argued that the 35-year-old didn’t absorb much damage in his last outing, making a quick return more realistic.

Also, if Johnson is stepping in as a bantamweight instead, there are several possible options. He could replace a fighter in any of these 135 lbs bouts at UFC 329: Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista, Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez, or Farid Basharat vs. John Garza.

“He didn’t take a crazy amount of damage if I recall correctly, dude is in insane shape. That’s flyweight for you. My statement could be wrong, though.” Charles Johnson also wasn’t handed a medical suspension following his UFC Baku loss. In that case, a return at UFC 329 is at least theoretically possible.

Still, with only days remaining until Conor McGregor’s long-awaited comeback, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out whether Charles Johnson is actually stepping in to replace someone or if the cryptic posts were hinting at something else entirely.