J. Lineker will no longer fight at UFC 219 (Photo: Reproduction Facebook ufc)
Less than a week before its start, UFC 219 suffered a huge loss on Christmas Eve, when bantamweight John Lineker was forced to leave his fight against Jimmie rivera, which would be part of the main card of the show on December 30th. The information was given by the North American website MMA Junkie, which also published an apology from the Brazilian.
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Lineker was selected after the former champion Dominick Cruz have suffered an injury. He apologized to Rivera and the UFC, as he had “begged” to get the fight and now he would not be able to fight.
“I am very sad to have to give up my fight with Rivera. I started to feel a little pain at the beginning of the last week, I went to the dentist and got treatment, but the pain persisted and started to get worse. I went to Las Vegas early to try to stay in the fight, but it was simply impossible. I would like to apologize to Rivera. I know it's horrible when that happens. I want to apologize to Sean Shelby (matchmaker) and the UFC. I begged them for the fight and I feel horrible about not being able to perform. And I need to apologize to the fans (…)”, declared Lineker, still asking for the fight to be rescheduled as soon as he is healthy.
After the news of the Brazilian's withdrawal, several names in the category offered to replace him, as Rivera is considered one of the main athletes in the division and declared that he wants to fight at UFC 219. Among them, Marlon moraes, who comes from a knockout victory over aljamain sterling and fought twice in the last two months, also achieving a decision victory over John Dodson.
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