Edson Baroza has been forced to withdraw from his UFC Vegas 63 main clash against Ilia Topuria due to a right knee injury. Multiple people who are familiar with the matter told MMA Fighting. Topuria’s status on the Oct. 29 card is still unknown.
Barboza (22-11) was looking to snap a two-fight losing skid in his return against Topuria after dropping a decision to Bryce Mitchell this past March and suffering a third-round knockout versus by the hands of Chikadze in 2021.
Barboza has already undergone surgery to address his injury, sources told MMA Fighting.
The Brazilian striker lost seven of his past 10 since 2017, with wins over Makwan Amirkhani, Shane Burgos and Dan Hooker. The list of names that have defeated him include lightweight greats Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kevin Lee, Justin Gaethje and Paul Felder.
Topuria (12-0) is unbeaten as a professional MMA fighter and has gone 4-0 since joining the UFC in 2020. In his last octagon appearances, “El Matador”, stopped Ryan Hall (and Jai Herbert)
The UFC Fight Night card will take place at UFC APEX Las Vegas. It features Calvin Kattar against Arnold Allen in an event of featherweight.
