Welterweights Brandon Thatch and Siyar Bahadurzada were scheduled to fight at the UFC Fight Night 83 event in Pittsburgh, but the bout has been removed from the fight card.
Thatch (11-3) was unable to gain clearance to compete on the Feb. 21 event at the Consol Energy Center. The match-up will instead take place at UFC 196, two weeks later, on March 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
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Ultimate Fighting Championship released a statement on Saturday explaining why the welterweight pairing being moved back.
“The UFC Fight Night welterweight bout between Brandon Thatch and Siyar Bahadurzada, scheduled for Feb. 21 in Pittsburgh, has been moved to the UFC 196 event in Las Vegas on March 5,” read the press release.
“Thatch, who is using a medication permitted under the UFC/USADA, WADA and Nevada State Athletic Commission anti-doping rules, was unable to obtain the necessary clearance from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. The Colorado fighter and his team have been in communication with the UFC and USADA throughout this process, and the required paperwork for licensing in Nevada has been filed,” the statement said.
UFC 196 is headlined by two championship fights. Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos takes on featherweight titleholder Conor McGregor in the featured fight while women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm puts her title on the line against Miesha Tate in the co-main event.
