Saturday night’s UFC co-main event has been called off, due to contract disputes between Delija and the PFL
Ante Delija has been forced to pull out of his UFC debut this Saturday against heavyweight contender, Ciryl Gane. This is the third fight this year that Gane has had cancelled for one reason or another.
Delija’s Statement:
“Dear Fans and Friends,
Unfortunately I will not debut at the UFC on 17.10.2020!
My PFL contract formally expired on 19.02.2020 and there was a unilateral option from the PFL to extend my contract for two more seasons.
However, since there is no season this year and I had not received any form of payments from PFL or any compensation. This became not an option for me.
Unfortunately, PFL wrote a letter to the UFC earlier this week saying that I was still under contract with PFL, but this however was not in accordance with the legal facts.
My Management team and my attorney pointed out the invalidity of the contract to the PFL.
Unfortunately the PFL ignored all legal letters and deliberately put obstacles in my way and took away my chance to fight in the UFC on Saturday. My management team has already instructed our lawyer to take the next legal steps and we will be looking into what future steps we will be making.
I am grateful for the opportunity that was given to be by the UFC. I am looking forward to clearing this matter up as soon as possible and I will be ready to take a fight as soon as possible.”
via @ufcnewsalerts on Instagram
The fight has been scrapped, and there will not be a replacement fighter for Gane to take on. Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jessica Andrade has been named thew new co-main event, and the middleweight bout between Claudio Silva and James Kraus has been upgraded to a main card billing.
