UFC Fight Night: Undefeated UFC Star Forced Off Las Vegas Card
Drew Beaupré
UFC Vegas 86 has lost its featherweight co-main event less than a month out from the card.
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Scheduled to take place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV on February 10, UFC Vegas 86 is headlined by a middleweight clash between #10-ranked Jack Hermansson and fan favorite Joe Pyfer.
The card was also supposed to feature a huge featherweight bout between unbeaten Lerone Murphy and Dan Ige, but Violent Money TV reports that Murphy has withdrawn from that matchup due to an undisclosed injury.
Losing a co-main event is a significant blow for any fight card, but Murphy’s withdrawal is particularly devastating for UFC Vegas 86 considering “The Miracle” was one of only three ranked fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
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The matchup with the #13-ranked Ige would have provided Murphy with the chance to continue climbing the featherweight rankings following decision wins over Josh Culibao and Gabriel Santos last year, while “50K” was looking to rebound from his loss to Bryce Mitchell.
There may be enough time for the UFC to find a short-notice opponent for Ige if he’s willing to accept the matchup, but without the planned co-main event the UFC Vegas 86 main card currently looks like this:
• Main Event: Jack Hermannsson vs. Joe Pyfer
• Brad Taveres vs. Gregory Rodrigues
• Rodolfo Viera vs. Armen Petrosyan
• Michael Johnson vs. Darrius Flowers
• Albert Duraev vs. Robert Bryczek
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