UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson was set to defend the title against Ray Borg at UFC 215, but then Borg pulled out of the fight due to an illness.
Johnson has set a deadline for when Borg would get that title shot and that deadline is going to be at UFC 216 this October.
"He's sick, it's just a little flu,” Johnson said to ESPN. “[UFC 216] is an option they gave me and I said, 'Sounds fine.' At the end of the day, they happen all the time. I've [postponed] a fight before. Now, if they call me and say Oct. 7th is not going to work, you need to push it longer -- I might just be done for the year. I'm not going to make it six or seven weeks. That's when injuries happen. Things accumulate."
Currently, there is already a title fight on the UFC 216 card and that bout is for the vacant UFC Interim Lightweight Title as Tony Ferguson faces Kevin Lee.
The champion admits that he has gotten ill before as well, but his illnesses usually took place during his training camp.
"The most times when I get sick is when I'm in training camp, because my body is ran down," Johnson said. "It literally happens. I could say I never would have thought Ian McCall would pull out of a fight, but it's happened."
UFC 216 takes place on Saturday, October 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
