Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is making a couple of changes to its upcoming “Vegas” cards on ESPN+.
Bantamweight bruiser Montel Jackson has been yanked from this weekend’s UFC Vegas 80 lineup for undisclosed reasons, according to Eurosport, which in turn sent opponent Chris Gutierrez to UFC Vegas 81 on Oct. 14 for a 135-pound showdown opposite Alateng Heili.
Heili (16-8-2) was originally scheduled to throw down opposite Rani Yahya; however, the aging Brazilian was removed from the APEX-bound fight card late last month.
This is an important fight for the 32 year-old Gutierrez (19-5-2), who is currently ranked No. 15 at 135 pounds. “El Guapo” was undefeated in eight straight fights before getting upended by Pedro Munhoz at UFC Kansas City and will need a victory on Oct. 14 to remain in the rankings (see them here).
Hopefully Jackson (13-2) can rebound and get back into action before the end of the year. “Quik” is the winner of four straight and captured seven of his last eight. It’s difficult to speculate on what comes next for the former “Contender Series” standout until we know the reason behind his UFC Vegas 80 withdrawal.
Stay tuned.