Looks like we will have to wait longer to see ‘The Korean Superboy’ in the Octagon again.
The long-awaited return of Doo Ho Choi no longer happening at the end of the month. The featherweight contender announced on Sunday that he suffered a shoulder injury during a recent sparring session and has withdrawn from the scheduled fight against Danny Chavez at UFC Vegas 33.
News of the withdrawal was first reported by Eric Kowal of MyMMANews and later confirmed by South Korean broadcaster, SPOTV News. Choi then followed with his own confirmation in a post on Instagram.
Choi revealed that the injury he suffered is not a major one, but one that would still require a short period of recuperation and two weeks was not going to be enough. He continued with an apology to his opponent and expressed his desire to have the fight with Chavez rescheduled on a future date.
“First of all, I’m so sorry for the fans who are waiting for my fight because I couldn’t have a fight due to injury,” wrote Choi. “I’m in a fight business. That means an unexpected accident can happen at any time and I also think a fighter should take the fight even if he has a some injury because that is way it is. I injured my shoulder in the last sparring session on Friday night. It was very light and easy rolling but something bad unlucky thing happened.
“It is not a huge injury, but definitely it isn’t something that can handle the fight,” continued Choi. “If I had more time for recover, I would push forward and take the fight, but our camp inevitable decided that two weeks were just too shorts (sic) to recover.”
You can read the full statement from Choi below.
It is unknown whether Chavez will receive a short-notice replacement for Choi and remain on the card or if the UFC plans to keep the pairing intact for an upcoming event.
Choi competed last at UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Korean Zombie, where he unfortunately saw his losing streak extend to three after being knocked out by Charles Jourdain in the second round of their fight. He also suffered losses to Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens. Prior to those losses, however, ‘The Korean Superboy’ found plenty of success in his first few outings under the UFC banner. Choi earned first-round finishes over the likes of Juan Puig, Sam Sicilia and Thiago Tavares between 2014 and 2016.
UFC Vegas 33 is headlined by a middleweight fight between Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland. The bout order has not been finalized at the time of this writing.