Gokhan Saki won’t be competing at UFC 219.
The kickboxing legend has been forced to withdraw from his light heavyweight contest with Khalil Rountree that was set to go down in the last UFC event of 2017 – UFC 219. The news was announced by the promotion on Tuesday, there was no information given on why Saki had to pull out of the fight.
Rountree will still be competing on the card, as UFC newcomer Michal Oleksiejczuk will be stepping up to replace Saki.
The Ultimate Fighter 23 runner-up will be looking to extend his win streak to three in a row. The 27-year-old Rountree is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins over Daniel Jolly and most recently Paul Craig. Those two victories snapped a two-fight skid that marked Rountree’s start in the UFC.
Oleksiejczuk hasn’t lost a fight in over two years. The 22-year-old Polish fighter is currently 12-2 in his MMA career, and rides an impressive nine-fight win streak that includes 7 TKO/KO wins.
UFC 219 is set to take place on Dec. 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. A women’s featherweight title fight involving current champ Cris Cyborg and former UFC bantamweight champ Holly Holm is scheduled to headline the card.
The current UFC 219 fight card is below:
Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza
Jimmie Rivera vs. John Lineker
Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
Khalil Rountree vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
Myles Jury vs. Rick Glenn
Dan Hooker vs. Marc Diakiese
Louis Smolka vs. Matheus Nicolau
Marvin Vettori vs. Omari Akhmedov