Henry Cejudo Injured; Flyweight Bout vs. Sergio Pettis at UFC 211 Canceled

The super-sized UFC 211 card just lost one of its pay-per-view attractions, as Henry Cejudo has withdrawn from a proposed flyweight clash against Sergio Pettis due to injury.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the cancellation on Wednesday evening. According to a report from MMAFighting.com, a hand injury suffered in sparring a couple weeks prior led to Cejudo’s withdrawal.

Due to the proximity of the event, a replacement opponent for Pettis will not be sought. As a result, UFC 211 will move forward with 13 bouts. A middleweight contest between David Branch and Krzysztof Jotko will be elevated to the pay-per-view portion of the card, while a featherweight clash pitting Jared Gordon against Michel Quinones will now air on the FX-televised portion of the prelims.

After winning his first 10 professional bouts, Cejudo entered UFC 211 on a two-fight losing streak. The Olympic gold medalist suffered a first-round TKO loss to Demetrious Johnson in a flyweight title bout at UFC 197 before dropping a split verdict to Joseph Benavidez at “The Ultimate Fighter 24” finale.

UFC 211 takes place at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Saturday and is headlined by a heavyweight championship clash between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos.

Cejudo provided an update on the nature of his injury via Instagram later on Wednesday night.

It is with regret that I have to announce I have had to pull out of my fight with Sergio Pettis this Saturday at UFC 211 due to injury. I really want to apologize to the fans and to Sergio Pettis for this unfortunate event. About two weeks ago I injured my hand sparring, and went to the doctor to get it examined after I was unable to grapple or punch. The doctor looked at x rays and informed me my hand wasn't' broken, so I assumed it was just bruised or sprained. I stopped using my hand for the next week and a half to allow it to rest as much as possible, and I had multiple prp treatments as well as an ultrasound in hopes of breaking up any build up or swelling. After arriving in Dallas on Tuesday evening, I hit mitts with my striking coach to get my timing down, and after I threw my first punch, a sharp pain shot through my wrist and hand. My team and I contacted the UFC to see if a cortisone shot would be allowed. The UFC sent me to a hand specialist, and he told me I had a cyst in my wrist as well as a ruptured capsule with the possibility of a tear in the ligament. He informed me the cortisone shot could possibly do more damage than any benefit and told me it would be insane to fight. He contacted the UFC doctors and informed them that my wrist and hand were unfit to fight this Saturday. I will schedule an appointment with a hand specialist next week and figure out the next course of action. Thank you and I will be back stronger than ever. #photogrid @photogridorg

A post shared by Henry Cejudo (@henry_cejudo) on May 10, 2017 at 7:01pm PDT