The expected clash between Valter Walker and Mohammad Usman, which takes place on Saturday night before UFC Rio, has been scrapped after Usman suffered an injury that forced him out of the fight.
The cancellation removes one of the most intriguing heavyweight matchups from the card, leaving Walker without an opponent just days before fight night.
It is unclear what type of injury it was Usman (11-4) out of contention. The younger brother of former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman scored a decisive victory over Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC Baku.
Walker (14-1) may lose some momentum with the cancellation. The rising heavyweight has won and finished his last three fights, all with the heel hook, one of the most difficult submissions to execute in MMA.
Without that fight, UFC Rio looks like this:
- #4 Charles Oliveira vs. #8 Mateusz Gamrot
- #6 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. #15 Montel Jackson
- Vicente Luque vs. Joel Alvarez
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto
- Ricardo Ramos vs. Can orli
- Lucas Almeida vs. Michael Aswell Jr.
- Jafel Filho vs. Clayton Carpenter
- Vitor Petrino vs. Thomas Petersen
- Bia Mesquita vs. Irina Alexeeva
- Lucas Rocha vs. Stewart Nicoll
- Julia Polastri vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
- Saimon Oliveira vs. Luan Lacerda
UFC Rio takes place on Saturday, October 11 from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
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