A middleweight bout between Chris Weidman and Eryk Anders was pulled from the UFC 309 lineup prior to the start of the preliminary card, the organization announced Saturday.
Both fighters successfully made weight on Friday morning, but Anders is dealing with an unspecified illness.
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Weidman, 40, is a former middleweight champion who is from New York and was looking forward to fighting at Madison Square Garden.
In a social-media post shortly after news broke, Weidman said he learned that Anders was sick as he was about to walk into the arena and that he's "completely devastated."
"I felt so good for this fight, so ready. My head is spinning that this is happening," he said. "Just felt so good and I was excited to put on a show at Madison Square Garden. I am so gutted."
Anders, 37, has won two of his last three outings including a March win over Jamie Pickett.
UFC 309 is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
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