UFC 326 has lost one of its key bouts announced so far after Paulo Costa withdrew against Brunno Ferreira.
Costa (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) was scheduled to face Ferreira (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the March 7 card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+) but has now pulled out for an undisclosed reason.
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Ferreira announced the news to Brazilian reporter LΓ©o Guimaraes and summed up the disappointing development as “Paulo being Paulo.” MMA Fighting subsequently reported the news.
With wins in five of his past six fights at 185 pounds, including a decision victory over Marvin Vettori at UFC 323 earlier this month, Ferreira, 33, said he expects a new opponent for UFC 326, ideally one who is still ranked, naming Roman Dolidze as a preferred option in a subsequent post on Instagram.
For Costa, his withdrawal from UFC 326 marks the ninth canceled or rescheduled bout of his UFC run.
The latest UFC 326 lineup now includes:
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Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira β for BMF title
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Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder
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Brunno Ferreira vs. opponent TBA
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Romenito Moicano vs. Brian Ortega
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Cody Garbrandt vs. Xiao Long
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Donte Johnson vs. Dusko Todorovic
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Cody Durden vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
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Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Rafael Tobias
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Jesus Aguilar vs. Su Mudaerji
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 326 loses key fight after ex-title challenger withdraws