Nik Lentz’s long wait for a fight just grew a little longer. Lentz was pulled from his UFC Fight Night 60 bout against Levan Makashvili prior to Friday’s weigh-ins after UFC doctors ruled him unable to compete due to flu-like symptoms.
MMAFighting.com confirmed the scratch with promotion officials following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
“Influenza ran through his household,” Lentz’s nutritionist, Mike Dolce, told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. “101-degree fever. He wanted to fight but doc said no.
“Doc came straight from the airport to Nik’s room and called it.”
Both Lentz (25-6-2, 1 NC) and promotional newcomer Makashvili will receive their show money.
Lentz, 30, is currently the No. 8 ranked featherweight on the UFC’s media-generated rankings.
Nicknamed “The Carny,” Lentz has been stuck on the sidelines since a May 2014 win over Manny Gamburyan. He was previously scheduled to rematch Charles Oliveira last September at UFC Fight Night 50, however that fight became a late scratch as well after Oliveira badly missed weight then fell ill on fight night.
Dolce told MMAFighting.com that Lentz hopes to fight on the next available UFC card.
As a result of the late change, James Moontasri vs. Cody Pfister has been elevated to Saturday night’s FOX Sports 1 preliminary card.
UFC Fight Night 60 takes place February 14 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson moves up to welterweight to fight blue-chip prospect Brandon Thatch in the night’s main event.
An updated UFC Fight Night 60 fight card can be seen below.
Main Cain (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
Benson Henderson vs. Brandon Thatch
Max Holloway vs. Cole Miller
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Neil Magny
Daniel Kelly vs. Patrick Walsh
Michel Prazeres vs. Kevin Lee
Ray Borg vs. Chris Kelades
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Efrain Escudero vs. Rodrigo Lima
Jim Alers vs. Chas Skelly
Tim Elliott vs. Zach Makovsky
James Moontasri vs. Cody Pfister