Randy Brown confirms removal from UFC Brooklyn

MMAfighting.com

The rumors are true and the road to the UFC’s ESPN+ debut has hit another bump.

On Sunday, Randy Brown confirmed a report from FloCombat that he has been removed from his upcoming welterweight bout opposite Chance Rencountre, which was scheduled to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next Saturday.

See Brown’s statement below, which does not disclose the reason for the fight being changed:

“Thank you to all my friends family and the fans attending the UFC Brooklyn event. I am 100 percent healthy and ready to fight. My team and I tried our best to keep the fight on. Unfortunately, the decision wasn’t up to us. I’m excited to be back in action as soon as possible.”

Brown no longer being on the card is the latest in a series of alterations to the Jan. 19 show, which includes Karl Roberson having to move up from middleweight to replace Ion Cutelaba in a light heavyweight bout with Glover Teixeira, and injuries causing a highly-anticipated bantamweight bout between Dominick Cruz and John Lineker to eventually become Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista instead.

Officials are actively seeking a replacement for Brown, with Kyle Stewart emerging as a leading candidate, per ESPN.

UFC Brooklyn marks the UFC’s first show of the ESPN era and the first to air on the ESPN+ streaming service. See the updated card below:

Henry Cejudo vs. T.J. Dillashaw

Greg Hardy vs. Allen Crowder

Gregor Gillespie vs. Yancy Medeiros

Joseph Benavidez vs. Dustin Ortiz

Paige VanZant vs. Rachael Ostovich

Glover Teixeira vs. Karl Roberson

Donald Cerrone vs. Alexander Hernandez

Joanne Calderwood vs. Ariane Lipski

Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Castro

Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista