UFC 326 has taken a blow.
Featherweight-turned-lightweight Brian Ortega is out of his matchup vs. Renato Moicano scheduled for the March 7 bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ortega (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) revealed on Instagram Stories that his withdrawal is due to nagging injuries that need time to heal. The promotion is currently seeking a new opponent to face Moicano (20-7-1 MMA, 12-7 UFC), though a replacement has not yet been confirmed.
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Ortega’s move to lightweight came after a health scare in August. During his weight cut, Ortega said he passed out for an elongated period of time. Despite the incident, the UFC permitted Ortega to compete. He ultimately lost by unanimous decision to Aljamain Sterling, leading to his second loss in a row.
“I’m OK, health is good, no surgeries or nothing crazy like that, but I do need to take a little bit of some time off to nurse these injuries that I have right now,” Ortega said in the video. “It just sucks, where it’s not crazy like that where I need to have surgery, but I have to rest it and let it heal and chill, and get some physical therapy.”
Moicano looks to snap a two-fight skid of his own the next time he enters the cage. He’s coming off back-to-back losses to Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush.
The updated UFC 326 lineup includes:
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Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder
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Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
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Brunno Ferreira vs. Gregory Rodrigues
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Cody Durden vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
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Cody Garbrandt vs. Long Xiao
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Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Rafael Tobias
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Jesus Aguilar vs. Su Mudaerji
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Donte Johnson vs. Dusko Todorovic
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Rodolfo Bellato vs. Luke Fernandez
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Gaton Bolanos vs. Joo Sang Yoo
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 326 loses star fighter: Brian Ortega withdraws
