Health issues force Julian Marquez out of UFC Vegas 40 bout with Jordan Wright

Saturday’s UFC Vegas 40 event has lost an anticipated middleweight bout.

Promotional officials announced on Friday that “non-covid related” health issues have forced Julian Marquez to withdraw from his main card matchup with Jordan Wright. With the change, the card moves forward with 10 total fights, and the featherweight bout between Nate Landwehr and Ludovit Klein gets promoted from the prelims.

Wright had successfully made weight for the fight at 184.5 pounds, while Marquez did not make it on the scale.

After a nearly three-year layoff, Marquez returned at February’s UFC 258 event and submitted Maki Pitolo in the third round. Less than two months later, “The Cuban Missile Crisis” picked up another finish, this time against Sam Alvey via second-round rear naked choke.

Wright has won two of three octagon appearances, which includes first-round TKO wins over Ike Villanueva and Jamie Pickett. “The Beverly Hills Ninja” would have made his second appearance of the year in hopes to cap off the year 2-0.