Nick Ring
Canadian middleweight Nick ‘The Promise’ Ring (13-1) has come down ill and has not been cleared to compete at tonight’s UFC 154 event versus opponent Constantinos “Costa” Philippou (11-2).
Philippou announced the change on Twitter (@Philippou185UFC) this morning.
– bad news guys! My fight got cancelled… Nick got sick and he can’t fight… Needless to say Im disappointed that I wont be fighting tonight. I trained hard and was looking forward to giving everyone a show. Next time
While MMAFighting.com confirmed with UFC officials that it was indead the Quebec athletic commission, le Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, who did indeed make the final call on whether or not Ring would complete.
The website also spoke to Philippou’s manager about the situation.
“They’re looking to get him a fight as soon as possible,” McMahon said. “We’re very appreciative of how the UFC has taken care of Costa. We’re thankful of Joe [Silva] and Dana [White] for all their efforts and the way they have dealt with this situation in an appropriate and professional manner. They are doing the right by Costa.”
Ring and Philippou were to compete on the Montreal events main card. Appearing on the pay-per-view card now will be lightweights Mark Boceck (11-4) and Rafael dos Anjos, while featherweights Antonio Carvalho and Rodrigo Damm have been bumped up to the televised FX prelim card from the live Facebook prelim video stream.
UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit is set to go down today (Nov. 17, 2012) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event features a welterweight title unification bout between reigning champion Georges St-Pierre and interim title holder Carlos Condit.