Demetrious Johnson's quest for history ends when bout is canceled after Ray Borg falls ill
Demetrious Johnson is going to have to wait for the opportunity to make UFC history.
His flyweight title fight with Ray Borg, which was set to be the main event of UFC 215 on Saturday at the Rogers Place in Edmonton, was canceled early Friday when Borg was deemed medically unfit to compete because of a viral illness.
The women’s bantamweight title fight between champion Amanda Nunes and No. 1 contender Valentina Shevchenko will now serve as the main event. Ironically, Nunes was set to fight Shevchenko in July in the main event of UFC 213 in Las Vegas, but Nunes withdrew on the morning of the fight with a sinus issue.
Fans who want a refund can obtain it at the point of purchase.
In a statement, the UFC said:
Due to a viral illness to UFC flyweight contender Ray Borg, the main event bout against champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 215 has been canceled. Borg was deemed unfit to compete by the UFC medical team.
UFC 215, which is now headlined by the women’s bantamweight championship between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko, will proceed as scheduled with 11 bouts at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. Moving to the Pay-Per-View main card will be the flyweight bout between Henry Cejudo and Wilson Reis. Additionally, the Mitch Clarke and Alex White lightweight contest will now kick off the FS1 prelims.
With the removal of Johnson vs. Borg, customers may request a full refund of purchased tickets at point of sale.
The cancelation temporarily ends Johnson’s bid to break the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses. He is tied at 10 with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Johnson-Borg is the second significant bout that fell off UFC 215. Heavyweight contenders Francis Ngannou and Junior dos Santos were scheduled to meet, but dos Santos was pulled when he failed a drug test. Dos Santos has vehemently denied using any performance enhancing substances.
MMA Fighting first reported the possibility that Borg was ill and would be forced off the card.
