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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be forced to make some last-minute lineup changes to the UFC Vegas 66 fight card, scheduled for this Sat. night (Dec. 17, 2022) on ESPN+ at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That’s because middleweight veteran Deron Winn suffered a “freak accident” and tumbled down the stairs after fainting at the UFC Performance Institute just outside of “Sin City,” leading to the dissolution of his Julian Marquez “Prelims” pairing.

“Yesterday at the PI I fainted and had a freak accident,” Winn wrote on Instagram. “I fell down the stairs, hit my head and neck pretty hard, sustained a mild concussion. They rushed me to the hospital and ran a bunch of tests on me. The majority of tests came back normal so I’m thankful for that. Since I suffered the concussion the UFC and medical (staff) has decided to pull me from my fight this weekend. I am devastated. I put so much work in these past couple months. I hope to rebook soon. Sorry to my opponent and sorry to all who have invested into me this camp. I’m heartbroken.”

Winn, 33, is coming off a technical knockout loss to Phil Hawes at the UFC Austin event last June and has now dropped three of his last four. As for Marquez, 32, he was stopped by Gregory Rodrigues — also at UFC Austin — but has won seven of his last 10.

The promotion is unlikely to find a replacement with just two days until showtime and there won’t be another UFC card until Jan. 14 in Las Vegas, so it remains to be seen if matchmakers try to rebook them for the new year or send them on their separate ways.

For the revised UFC Vegas 66 fight card and lineup click here.

Drew Dober thinks ‘Dana and the UFC’ are protecting Paddy Pimblett.

Drew Dober thinks the UFC is protecting their new ‘cash cow’ Paddy Pimblett from difficult fights.

Pimblett failed to live up to expectations in his most recent outing against Jared Gordon at UFC 282, with most pundits scoring the bout in favor of Gordon despite Pimblett winning the fight.

Dober thinks Dana White knows Pimblett won’t live up to the hype, which is why the UFC president is giving him easy fights, with two of Paddy’s previous opponents (Luigi Vendramini & Rodrigo Vargas) already being cut from the promotion.

“No. The UFC will not let me fight him,” Dober said of Pimblett during Wednesday’s UFC Vegas 66 media day (h/t Sportskeeda). “Like, let’s be honest. We watched his last fight and we know what I’m capable of. That would be a fun one and I just want to fight in London at that O2 Arena, so if Paddy says yes, I’m all for it. But we all know that we got Dana, and the UFC won’t let that happen.”

Dober returns to action this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 216, taking on Bobby Green at the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) previously booked its Feb. 4 fight card for Seoul, South Korea, with local hero Chan Sung Jung expected to headline, but those plans failed to materialize. As a result, the card will now take place at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac expected to headline.

They were previously attached to the UFC Vegas 65 main event late last month but a tummy ache or something felled “The Black Beast” and forced a last-minute cancelation. Lewis has been coy on his condition but also managed to get medical clearance shortly after bowing out. Hopefully he can make it through the UFC Vegas 68 event without incident.

Lewis (26-10, 1 NC) is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. The 37 year-old “Black Beast” has not competed since getting stopped by Sergei Pavlovich at the UFC 277 pay-per-view (PPV) back in July. As for Spivac (15-3), who turns 28 in just a few weeks, he’s coming off back-to-back technical knockout wins over heavyweights Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai.

UFC Vegas 68 on ESPN+ will also feature the light heavyweight showdown between Devin Clark and Da Un Jung. Elsewhere on the card, Doo Ho Choi collides with Kyle Nelson at featherweight while Mandy Bohm and Ji Yeon Kim hook ‘em up at 125 pounds. In addition, Adam Fugitt will test his might against Japanese welterweight Yusaku Kinoshita.

“If he beats him, if he connects, if he gets a knockout, my God – he’s in a title fight next.”

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping thinks Conor McGregor is just one win away from a title shot.

‘The Notorious’ is currently rehabilitating a leg injury but is expected to return to competition within the next six months, possibly at welterweight.

But many pundits think McGregor is better suited at lightweight, with oddsmakers opening the Irishman as a -155 favorite in a potential 155-pound matchup with +135 underdog Michael Chandler.

If that fight got made, and McGregor won via KO, Bisping thinks his next matchup would be for the lightweight championship, no questions asked.

“Conor’s got all the money in the world, but he wants that [title], so you’ve got to respect that about him,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel (h/t Harry Kettle). “And coming back against Michael Chandler, if he gets the job done, well, it wouldn’t be crazy to think about a title fight next. It really wouldn’t. Chandler is still one of the top dogs. If he beats him, if he connects, if he gets a knockout, my God – he’s in a title fight next.”

McGregor hasn’t fought since last July when he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier in their trilogy bout at UFC 264. He was recently removed from the UFC rankings, presumably due to inactivity, having not won a fight since January 2020.