The UFC 287 card recently took a big hit with less than two weeks until fight night.
The light heavyweight bout between perennial contenders Li Jingliang and Michael Chiesa has fallen through due to injury. Jingliang initially announced on Chinese social media platform Douyin that he would not play against Chiesa on April 8 due to a spinal injury that may require surgery.
It remains unclear if Chiesa has found a replacement for the UFC 287 fight card. ‘Maverick’ hasn’t competed in a year and a half and will be looking to bounce back from a two-fight hiatus when he does. Meanwhile, Li Jingliang is coming off the back of a controversial split decision loss against Daniel Rodriguez in September, meaning ‘The Leech’ has lost three times in five appearances.
The Chinese top performer was originally scheduled to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 279, but was handed the worst deal in a last-minute reshuffle due to Khamzat Chimaev’s big weight miss.
The UFC 287 card after the recent cancellation looks like this:
Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya – for the middleweight title
Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal
Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
Christian Rodriguez vs. Raúl Rosas Jr.
Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbi
Chris Curtis vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Michael Chiesa vs. TBA
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Josip Pifer
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
Luana Pinheiro vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
Steve Garcia vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
Chris Barnett vs. Chase Sherman
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. TBA
Jacqueline Amorim vs. Sam Hughes