“Many of you already know what happened,” the Brazilian said in a video posted on social media. “I’m out of the lineup for the UFC Abu Dhabi tournament because of what happened today at my last training session in Brazil.”
“I’m not allowed to fly with such a serious dissection. I had nine stitches and I’m not sure I can heal it in such a short time and show a great fight. Together with the UFC, we made the decision to withdraw from the fight.”
“A lot of people are judging me right now, but I can’t go into this fight 80% ready. This fight is very important to me, a lot is at stake and I have to be 100%, if not 120% ready for this fight.”
“I apologize,” Oliveira added in a comment on the publication.
UFC CEO, Dana White, commenting on the situation, made it clear that Oliveira had a chance to stay in the fight if they had reported the incident to the organization right away and not after receiving medical attention in a Brazilian hospital.
“They didn’t call us,” the UFC head honcho said at a press conference in Las Vegas. “If they did, we would have sent them to a plastic surgeon who would have stitched it up from the inside, made it right. They didn’t let us know until after they got the stitches. On the other hand, it was obvious to me that they didn’t want to risk getting a blow like that.”
Islam Makhachev’s new opponent will be current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who will face the Russian on Oct. 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.