Replacement sought for injured John Hathaway at UFC 189

John Hathaway

The UFC needs a welterweight willing to take a short-notice fight at next month’s UFC 189 event.

John Hathaway (17-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has suffered an undisclosed injury and been forced out of his bout with Gunnar Nelson (13-3-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

UFC officials today confirmed the change with MMAjunkie.

UFC 189 takes place July 11 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Nelson vs. Hathaway was slated for the main card.

It’s another setback for Hathaway. The 27-year-old English fighter won seven of his first eight UFC fights – the lone loss coming via decision to Mike Pyle – before he suffered a spinning-back-elbow knockout to Dong Hyun Kim in March 2014. He’s since been battling Crohn’s disease and has been on the sidelines for the past 16 months.

The latest UFC 189 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Champ Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor – for featherweight title
• Champ Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald – for welterweight title
• Dennis Bermudez vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Gunnar Nelson vs. TBA
• Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Matt Brown vs. Tim Means
• John Howard vs. Brandon Thatch
• Alex Garcia vs. Mike Swick
• Henry Briones vs. Cody Garbrandt

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)

• Neil Seery vs. Louis Smolka
• Yosdenis Cedeno vs. Cody Pfister

For more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

view original article >>