Brian Ortega has been forced out of his scheduled lightweight bout against Renato Moicano at UFC 331 after suffering a cut above his left eye which required stitches.
Ortega had been due to make his lightweight debut against Moicano at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on September 19, but his withdrawal has led to the bout being removed from the card. Moicano has instead been booked to face Tom Nolan in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas on October 31.
“I have to pull out of the fight because of the stitches in my eye,” said Ortega on Instagram. “I’m on weight, I’ve been training my ass off, and this has honestly been one of the best camps I’ve ever had.”
The injury delays Ortega’s planned move to lightweight, while Moicano will now turn his attention to Nolan and a five-round headline bout at the UFC’s Meta Apex in Las Vegas next month.
UFC 331 will proceed with 12 fights, with Gable Steveson’s bout against Sean Sharaf now scheduled to open the main card following the removal of Moicano-Ortega.
The event will be headlined by UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van defending his title against former champion Alexandre Pantoja in a rematch. Their first meeting ended prematurely after Pantoja suffered an arm injury.
