Ray Borg has withdrawn from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night bantamweight bout against Merab Dvalishvili because of personal reasons, the UFC said Thursday.
Borg’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN that Borg had a “family emergency.”
Borg was absent from the card’s virtual media day Thursday and his withdrawal was announced afterward. New signee Gustavo Lopez will fill in and fight Dvalishvili, UFC officials told ESPN. The card, headlined by Jessica Eye against Cynthia Calvillo, will take place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas with no fans in attendance.
Borg tweeted a photo of his son, Anthony, on Thursday afternoon with the text: “Family first, see you soon son.” He did not go into any further detail. Anthony Borg was born in 2018 with the brain condition hydrocephalus and has had several surgeries to treat the issue.
Ray Borg, 26, had been scheduled to fight after just a month turnaround, attempting to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to Ricky Simon on May 13. The New Mexico native was on a two-fight winning streak before that bout.
Dvalishvili (10-4) has won three straight. The 29-year-old, who was born in the Republic of Georgia and lives and trains in New York, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Casey Kenney in February.
Lopez (10-4), a 30-year-old Las Vegas resident, was on a three-fight winning streak in the Combate Americas promotion.