Phil Hawes had the possibility of two opponents this weekend, as of Friday morning. Yet, neither bout will happen.
Deron Winn, Hawes’ scheduled opponent, withdrew from the fight with Hawes due to an illness, which was not weight-cut or COVID-19 related, the UFC announced Friday morning. In Winn’s place, the UFC signed MMA veteran Chris Curtis to fight Hawes on Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
However, ultimately, Hawes declined to fight Curtis on a days notice when he was preparing for Winn, sources told ESPN. So, neither Hawes vs. Winn nor Hawes vs. Curtis will happen Saturday.
UFC welterweight James Krause offered to step in and fight Curtis on short notice, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported Friday. Krause is already in Vegas to corner UFC flyweight Tim Elliott on Saturday. However, per Okamoto, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) balked on the last-minute switch, according to Krause.
UFC Fight Night will proceed with nine fights. The card is headlined by a women’s strawweight contender bout between Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez.
Also on Friday morning, co-main event fighter Jared Gooden missed weight by three pounds, coming in at 174 pounds for a scheduled bout against Randy Brown. Per the UFC, the bout will go on, but Gooden will forfeit 20% of his fight purse to Brown.
Hawes (11-2) has won seven straight, three of them coming in the UFC.
Curtis (26-8) will remain in the UFC, per his coach Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture. Curtis, a 34-year-old who has been a pro MMA fighter since 2009, has won five in a row following a brief retirement while he was with PFL in 2019.