Louis Smolka has explained why he was forced to withdraw from UFC 264 this Saturday.
The UFC veteran was scheduled to fight Sean O’Malley on the opener of the main card, but would withdraw last week for what was initially reported as an undisclosed injury. Reporting from Marc Raimondi of ESPN revealed that Smolka was dealing with a staph infection, which is what led to him being deemed “medically unfit” to compete. He was then replaced by short-notice promotional newcomer Kris Moutinho.
Smolka released a statement just days later on his Instagram account about what exactly happened.