THE REMATCH BETWEEN Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor is just over five weeks away, but one of the most eagerly-anticipated bouts from the UFC 202 card has fallen through.
Neil Magny (18-4) was due to face Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1-1) in a meeting of the seventh and eleventh-ranked fighters in the welterweight division on the 20 August bill at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
However, Dong Hyun Kim has revealed via social media that he’s been forced to withdraw from the contest after sustaining a knee injury, and it’s uncertain if a replacement opponent will be drafted in for Magny.
The fight was due to be an important one as Magny was aiming for his fourth consecutive win — having demolished Hector Lombard in March — to edge closer to title contention, while his veteran Korean opponent was also set to return to action for the first time since his impressive stoppages of Joshua Burkman and Dominic Waters in 2015.
Nevertheless, the UFC 202 card is still shaping up to be a cracker. In addition to a second meeting of Diaz and McGregor, there’s a bout between two of the light-heavyweight division’s top contenders (Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Glover Teixiera), another outing for highly-touted bantamweight Cody Garbrandt, plus several other important 170lbs fights, the pick of which will see Demian Maia take on Carlos Condit.
Update: The Los Angeles Daily News reports that Lorenz Larkin will step in to replace Dong Hyun Kim against Neil Magny.
Irish fans are expected to travel to Vegas in big numbers once again, and tickets will go on general sale from this Friday.
UFC 202 (more fights still to be announced)
Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira
Donald Cerrone vs. Rick Story
Carlos Condit vs. Demian Maia
Tim Means vs. Sean Strickland
Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Sultan Aliev
Alberto Uda vs. Marvin Vettori
Chris Avila vs. Artem Lobov
