Demetrious Johnson was headed for what could have been his record-breaking 11th consecutive title defense against Ray Borg at UFC 215 last Saturday. But for the second time in his UFC run, Borg pulled out due to illness, and the match-up was eventually scrapped 24 hours before fight night.
For his part, Johnson was completely empathetic about Borg’s situation. But as for the rescheduling, he is no longer willing to go past October 7th, which is the penned date for UFC 216.
“He’s sick, it’s just a little flu,” Johnson said (via ESPN.com). “[UFC 216] is an option they gave me and I said, ‘Sounds fine.’ At the end of the day, [fight cancellations] happen all the time.”
“I’ve [postponed] a fight before. Now, if they call me and say Oct. 7th is not going to work, you need to push it longer — I might just be done for the year. I’m not going to [extend] six or seven weeks. That’s when injuries happen. Things accumulate.”
The first time Borg pulled out of a fight was during his scheduled fight against Ian McCall at UFC 203 in September 2016. Recently, he released a profanity-laced social media post responding to critics who have called him out for this recent cancellation.
UFC 216 is slated to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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