A right knee injury will force Edson Barboza out of his fight vs. Ilia Topuria.
Barboza (22-11) was looking to snap a two-fight losing skid in his return against Topuria after dropping a decision to Bryce Mitchell this past March and suffering a third-round knockout versus by the hands of Chikadze in 2021.
Barboza has already undergone surgery to address his injury, per sources.
The Brazilian striker lost seven of his past 10 since 2017, with wins over Makwan Amirkhani, Shane Burgos and Dan Hooker.
The list of names that have defeated him include lightweight greats Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kevin Lee, Justin Gaethje and Paul Felder.
Topuria (12-0) is unbeaten as a professional MMA fighter and has gone 4-0 since joining the UFC in 2020. “El Matador” stopped Ryan Hall and Jai Herbert in his most recent octagon appearances.
The UFC Fight Night card takes place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas and feature Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen in a featherweight main event.
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