Ian Machado Garry will no longer compete at UFC 296 after contracting pneumonia, and his fight with Vicente Luque has been scrapped from the card.
UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the news on Wednesday after Chael Sonnen initially reported the news.
“Ian Garry started with the flu that turned into pneumonia,” White said on Twitter. “So that fight is off and is not happening. It is true.”
Machado Garry was originally scheduled to speak with reporters at UFC 296 media day on Wednesday, but he failed to make an appearance. At the time, there was no reason given for his absence, though Machado Garry had previously mentioned that he feared for his family’s safety following an ugly back-and-forth with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland leading into fight week.
Ultimately, that had nothing to do with missing out on media day with Machado Garry falling ill and requiring treatment for pneumonia. Now, he’ll have to miss out on the fight with Luque and wait to recover before booking his next fight sometime in 2024.
As of now, the UFC has not announced which fight from the undercard will take the place of Machado Garry vs. Luque on the main card, which airs on pay-per-view on Saturday night. UFC 296 moves forward with 13 total fights after losing the welterweight matchup.
