UFC Fight Night 97
| UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs.Penn | ||||
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A poster or logo for UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs.Penn.
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| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | Cancelled | |||
| Venue | Mall of Asia Arena | |||
| City | Pasay City, Philippines | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
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UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn (also known as UFC Fight Night 97) was a planned mixed martial arts event that was set to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 15, 2016, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.
The event in Pasay City was supposed to be the second that the organization hosted in the Philippines, with the first being UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber in May 16, 2015. The entire event was supposed to stream live on UFC Fight Pass.
A featherweight bout between former title challenger Ricardo Lamas and former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion BJ Penn was expected to serve as the main event. However on October 4, Penn pulled out of the fight citing an injury. In turn, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely.
The remaining fighters on the card all will be awarded their contracted show money despite not competing. A UFC statement said the fighters on the card will be rebooked for future events, though it's not certain if the original matchups will remain intact. This was the third time, following UFC 151 in September 2012, and UFC 176 in August 2014 that the promotion elected to cancel an event because of a lack of a high profile fight to fill a main event spot.
A lightweight bout between Damir Hadzovic and Yusuke Kasuya, initially scheduled for UFC 203, was postponed after Hadžović experienced an issue with his travel visa. The pairing was rescheduled and was expected to take place at this event.
Mehdi Baghdad was expected to face Jon Tuck at the event. However, Baghdad pulled out of the fight in mid-September citing injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Alexander Volkanovski.
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