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This Saturday Night’s UFC 296 card has taken a major hit as Ian Garry is suffering from pneumonia and has been pulled from his bout against Vicente Luque.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news through various social media outlets (transcript via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie):
“I know it’s out there. There’s some speculation that Ian Garry and Luque is off. It is true. It is. Ian Garry started with the flu. That turned into pneumonia. So that fight is off and is not happening. It is true.”
Luque is unlikely to remain on the card, as UFC officials have just over a day to find him a replacement opponent.
Garry, in a statement to Ariel Helwani, says the UFC did everything they could to help him stay on the UFC 296 card.
“I have pneumonia,” Garry told Ariel Helwani in a statement. “They tried everything to help me. In the end, UFC doctor said there’s no chance I can fight. The UFC doctor made the call. … This annoys me more than anyone. I want to fight. It’s my favorite thing to do.”
Despite losing a big opportunity at UFC 296, Luque stayed classy as always, stating the following on Instagram:
“First of all, I wish the best recovery. Speedy recovery for him, and the best for his family – and it’s really unfortunate. I was so ready for this fight. I’ve had a great training camp. Anybody that sees me on social media sees a little bit of what I’ve been doing. They know how ready I am for this fight. Weight cut has been going so, so good – the easiest weight cut I’ve ever had in my career. I have all my team here supporting me. A lot of guys came out in this fight. A lot of people supported me to come watch the fight, as well, and unfortunately it’s not going to happen.
“It’s out of my control. Everything that I could do, everything that I have control of in my job and really put my heart into this, I did. I gave it my all. Unfortunately, we cannot really control everything. As I said, I wish the best. I wish recovery for Ian. Now it’s time for me to rest. I did have a hard training camp.”
You can find David Tees’ socials at https://linktr.ee/samuraitees
