John Lineker has been pulled from UFC 219 due to undisclosed reasons, where he was set to face Jimmie Rivera in a battle of top ten bantamweights.
MMA Fighting first reported the news.
It is unknown at this time if Rivera will remain on the card, but UFC officials are seeking a replacement opponent for him to fight. If a replacement fighter is not found, a fight from the preliminary card will get moved to the pay-per-view portion of the card. Rivera himself was a replacement for former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who was pulled from the bout after suffering an arm injury.
Rivera (21-1-0) is currently undefeated in UFC competition, defeating Marcus Brimage, Pedro Munhoz, Iuri Alcantara, Urijah Faber and Thomas Almeida. Rivera hasn’t suffered a loss in over nine years and that lone defeat came to Jason McLean at Ring Of Combat 22. Rivera has seen his last four fights go the distance and it has been over two years since the last time the fighter got a finish.
UFC 219 takes place on Saturday, December 30 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Holly Holm and Cyborg headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
