Photo by Brandon Magnus/DWTNCS
Folks, we have some good news and some bad news and as is customary ‘round these parts, we’ll get the bad news out of the way first.
Grant Dawson has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 246 showdown against Chas Skelly this Sat. night (Jan. 18, 2020) and no replacement will be provided, which means the “McGregor vs. Cowboy” line up is down by one contest.
The good news, and I mean this with no disrespect to either Dawson or Skelly, is that the bouts most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will be paying for remain intact, including the five-fight pay-per-view (PPV) main card.
“I’m heartbroken to report I won’t be fighting this weekend at UFC 246 due to circumstances out of my control,” Dawson wrote on social media. “I’d like to apologize to everyone who was looking forward to this fight. We are working with the UFC to get my bout rescheduled as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience during this time, and I hope to have fight news very soon.”
Looks like “The Scrapper” didn’t get the memo.
“I guess everybody knew before me, but my fight has been cancelled,” Skelly announced on Twitter. “No late replacement, the fight will be rescheduled. So sorry to everybody that is coming to Vegas to watch me fight. To (Dawson), take care of yourself and I’ll see you soon!”
Dawson and Skelly were scheduled for the UFC 246 “Prelims” on ESPN so the promotion will likely backfill that slot with a bout from the Fight Pass portion of the card (see it here). Expect official confirmation at some point later today.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 246 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 246: “McGregor vs. Cerrone” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.