UFC 211 Preview, Fight Card: Pettis-Cejudo Canceled; Branch-Jotko Moved to Main Card
It's a good thing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 211 card is stacked because it has taken an unexpected hit days before the event.
MMA Fighting was the first to report that the flyweight bout between Sergio Pettis and Henry Cejudo has been canceled because Cejudo injured his hand while sparring. Since a replacement for Cejudo couldn't be found on such a short notice, the fight had to be scrapped. Pettis would get his show money, though, and he's not required to make weight.
"I've never had this happen to me before. I put so much time and effort into this camp. I was three days away from a performance of a lifetime," Pettis told MMA Fighting.
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This was supposed to be one of the matches mixed martial arts (MMA) fans were looking forward to. The bout was scheduled to open the pay-per-view main card following the prelims.
Cejudo was a gold medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and he has been climbing up the rankings before he got derailed by UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and top contender Joseph Benavidez in his last two fights.
Pettis is the younger brother of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and he has been on a tear lately since his loss to Ryan Benoit at UFC 185 in March 2015.
Meanwhile, the middleweight bout between former two-division World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion David Branch and Krzysztof Jotko has been bumped up to the main card. This should be an interesting match.
This is Branch's second stint in the UFC and he has won 10 fights in a row since 2012. Jotko is coming off five straight wins.
UFC 211 will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, May 13, at 10 p.m. ET. Fans can also watch it live on pay-per-view.
