Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pulled the bantamweight battle between top contenders Aljamain Sterling and Raphael Assuncao from the upcoming UFC Fight Night 102 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which takes place Fri., Dec. 9, 2016 inside Times Union Center in Albany, New York, exclusively on UFC Fight Pass digital network.
Sterling was injured last week and forced to postpone his return to the Octagon; however, he’s expected to remain slotted against Assuncao for a later date as opposed to finding a replacement opponent on super-short notice.
UFC made the announcement on Tuesday.
Sterling (12-1) lost some ground in the bantamweight top 10 after a split decision loss to Bryan Caraway last May.