The UFC on FOX 28 card on Saturday night has just lost a fight.
The lightweight matchup pitting submission specialist Gilbert Burns against fast rising Canadian star Olivier Aubin-Mercier has been pulled from the event taking place on Saturday night in Orlando, Fla.
According to a statement from UFC officials, Burns was deemed medically ineligible to compete due to concerns over his weight cut to get down to the lightweight limit in a non-title fight at 156 pounds.
“Upon his arrival, the UFC medical team determined that it would be unsafe for Burns to cut additional weight necessary to meet the 156-pound limit,” UFC officials said in a statement.
As the UFC has taken steps to curb extreme weight cuts, athletes will typically step on the scale when arriving in the host city where officials will check their weight to ensure they are safely within range of the limit for their particular division.
There’s no word on how much Burns weighed when he arrived in Orland, but obviously it was concerning enough that the UFC didn’t feel comfortable allowing him to cut down to the 156-pound limit.
Burns was coming into the fight after earning a knockout in his last trip to the Octagon while Aubin-Mercier was riding a three bout win streak. It’s unknown at this time if the UFC will attempt to rebook the fight or just move each of them onto a different card against a new opponent.
Now the fight between Burns and Aubin-Mercier was scheduled as the featured bout on the early prelims airing on UFC Fight Pass. UFC officials have not determined yet which fight will take its place at the top of that portion of the card.
With Burns vs. Aubin-Mercier scrapped, however, UFC on FOX 28 will now move forward with 12 total bouts on the card on Saturday night.
With Gilbert Burns vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier cancelled, which fight remaining on the preliminary card are you most excited to see on Saturday night? Sound off in the comments to let us know.
