Fan favorite Billy Quarantillo says the UFC declined his offer of a late-notice replacement against Nate Landwehr for ‘understandable’ family reasons.
Over the past few hours, reports have emerged that Gabriel Miranda has pulled out of his upcoming fight against Billy Quarantillo, as has Pat Sabatini for his fight against Nate Landwehr.
Quarantillo shared on X (Twitter) that he asked to step in and fight Landwehr on the Atlantic City card, but the UFC preferred him to stay at the UFC Apex since his partner is expecting to give birth around the same time.
Billy Quarantillo on late-notice replacement for Landwehr
In the space of a few hours, Alex Behunin reported that Pat Sabatini was out of his bout against Nate Landwehr on March 30, with Nolan King also claiming that Gabriel Miranda was out of his fight against Billy Quarantillo on March 23.
Unsurprisingly, fans quickly turned amateur matchmakers, calling for Quarantillo to step in against Landwehr on short notice – both were scheduled to fight within just one week of each other.
It was a fight that appealed to Quarantillo and his team, with the 18-5 featherweight claiming on social media that he had asked the UFC if he could step in to face Landwehr in front of the Atlantic City crowd.
However, the UFC has reportedly opted to keep ‘Billy Q’ on the Apex card since his wife is expecting to give birth to their child in the subsequent weeks, a decision that Quarantillo accepts.
“I asked [and] they felt it was better to keep me on the March 23 card since my wife is due soon,” he said in one post.
“Already asked for the Nate fight but since my wife is due 2 weeks later, they want me to stay on the apex card which I understand,” Quarantillo replied to another fan post.
Quarantillo made his UFC debut 2019 and is currently 6-3 in the promotion, having first competed on Dana White’s Contender Series.
After losing a unanimous decision against Shane Burgos in 2021, the New York native earned an impressive TKO win over Alexander Hernandez in 2022.
Yet 2023 was a mixed bag for Quarantillo: a devastating first-round KO loss to Edson Barboza, followed by a unanimous decision win of his own against Damon Jackson later in the year.
A replacement opponent has not yet been announced for either Landwehr or Quarantillo, but a reminder that Dan Ige recently earned himself ‘mythical’ status when he delivered a round one KO to Andre Fili at the same time his partner was also expecting to give birth.