In a move that’s shrouded in speculation the UFC has scrapped the UFC 186 co-main event between Rory MacDonald and Hector Lombard in favor of a Demtrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson title defense.
Here’s the official statement from the UFC:
Toronto, Canada – The UFC® announced an updated fight card and released ticket prices for UFC® 186: DILLASHAW vs. BARAO II at the Bell Centre on Saturday, April 25. The organization will be returning to Montreal with two championship title fights including the highly anticipated re-match between the world’s No.9-ranked pound-for-pound mixed martial artist, UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw (12-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Ca., USA), and No.1 contender Renan Barao (35-2, 1NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The new co-main event will feature UFC flyweight champion and the world’s No.3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Demetrious Johnson (21-2-1, fighting out of Parkland, WA, USA) against No.8-ranked Kyoji Horiguchi (15-1, fighting out of Tokyo, Japan). Tickets for UFC® 186: DILLASHAW vs. BARAO II will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, February 28 at 10 a.m. EST.
The previously scheduled bout between welterweights Rory MacDonald and Hector Lombard has been removed from the card and updates for both fighters will be provided when available.
As soon as the UFC provides more details for the change we will updated you. Hopefully this isn’t another failed PED test by one of the competitors. Failed drug test are becoming the UFC’s worst enemy and another failed test in the wake of the Anderson Silva news would give them publicity for all of the wrong reasons.