Just a little over a week before the scheduled event, the UFC has decided to cancel what was supposed to be their 2nd card in the Philippines. News comes after B.J. Penn suffered an injury that forced him out of his main event slot against Ricardo Lamas.
"I suffered a rib injury in training and I apologize to the fans in Manila who were expecting to watch me compete," Penn said in the announcement. “I hope to be back in the Octagon soon.”
Fighters on the card are to be rebooked for upcoming events, and they will also “receive compensation due to the card being rescheduled”.
Hopefully this gives some relief to those who were supposed to be competing. All the fighters’ camps are already completed, and they’ll still have to pay for training, along with any extra flights, hotels and other expenses they’ve already lined up.
The release also stated that since the UFC’s 2016 calendar is full, there are currently no plans to have a Philippine event this year. The UFC first went to Manila on May 2015, and it was headlined by Frankie Edgar vs Urijah Faber.