Johnson vs. Borg UFC 215 main event cancelled

Here we go again.

The UFC 213 main event between women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko was canceled the day of the fight when Nunes’ chronic sinusitis worsened. That bout was moved to UFC 215, with White vowing it would not be the main event. Instead, the main event was Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg.

Now that fight has been canceled. ‘Mighty’ Johnson will not have the opportunity to break the record for most successful UFC title defenses; he is currently tied with Anderson Silva. UFC doctors pulled Borg from the event due to illness. The league issued an official statement.

Due to a viral illness to UFC flyweight contender Ray Borg, the main event bout against champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 215 has been cancelled,” read the unfortunate announcement. “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.

Borg had missed weight less than a year ago at UFC 207, forcing the fight to a 129.5 catchweight, but the fighter’s nutritionist Dr. Michelle Ingels said the illness was unrelated to cutting weight.

It wasn’t weight related, she said to MMA Fighting. Ray has been getting progressively more sick each day this week and still wanted to fight so badly that he put on a game face and went to all of his fight week obligations. However, prior to beginning the bulk of his weight cut the UFC doctor examined Borg and concluded that he was too ill to fight this week and needed time to rest and get better.

A deeply disappointed ‘Mighty’ coach Matt Hume responded via his social network.

“We are beyond disappointed that we won’t be able to accomplish the goal this Saturday, but the end result is inevitable,” he wrote. “We will refocus and show the world the greatest Mixed Martial Artist that ever existed.”

It is believed the bout will be rescheduled to UFC 216 on October 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here’s a free replay of the first fight between the new main event fighters.

UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 will be held on September 9, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Main Card (PPV)
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis
Neil Magny vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Ilir Latifi vs. Tyson Pedro
Jeremy Stephens vs. Gilbert Melendez
Prelim Card (Fox Sports 1)
Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira
Sarah Moras vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith
Gavin Tucker vs. Rick Glenn
Mitch Clarke vs. Alex White
Prelim Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Luis Henrique vs. Arjan Bhullar
Kajan Johnson vs. Adriano Martins