Yesterday it was officially confirmed that there would not be a UFC event in Seoul on February 4th. The cancellation did not come as a major surprise in the wake of the Korean Zombie’s shoulder injury.
What is less clear is what will happen to the current fight card. UFC Vegas 68 will now be taking place at the Apex Centre on the same date and will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac.
That bout had originally been scheduled for UFC Vegas 65 but Lewis (26-10-0-1) fell ill during the event and pulled out. Spivak (15-3) will be going for a third straight stoppage win.
Tonight’s Derrick Lewis x Sergei Spivac main event has been canceled – mid-event – due to a “medical issue” with Lewis, per the broadcast.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 19, 2022
Not confirmed
An entire fight card for the Seoul event has been leaked by the fighters or their teams although not one of the bouts has been officially confirmed by the promotion. However it is an open secret that the UFC was planning to hold an event at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena on February 4th.
Seven Korean fighters have bouts booked for February 4th. Doo Ho Choi, Ji Yeon Kim, Jun Yong Park, Seung Guk Choi, Hyun Sung Park and Jeong Young Lee face an anxious wait to see whether they will still be competing on this date.
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Very unusual
The fight card also featured Yusaku Kinoshita, Tatsuro Taira and Loma Lookboonmee. It would be very unusual for the UFC to put on an event in Las Vegas with this many Asian fighters on the card.
The fights could get moved around or they could end up getting scrapped altogether. With just six weeks until the event fighters will be wondering whether they should continue with their training camps or take a break over the holiday period.
Should the fights get moved to Las Vegas there will be a scramble to apply for last minute visas. Several of the fighters with bouts booked, including the Road to UFC finalists, have never competed in the US before.
UFC Vegas 68, Las Vegas, February 4th
Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac (Heavyweight)
Da Un Jung vs. Devin Clark (Welterweight)
Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson (Featherweight)
Ji Yeon Kim vs. Mandy Bohm (Flyweight)
Jun Yong Park vs. Denis Tiuliulin (Middleweight)
Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Adam Fugitt (Welterweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs. Jesus Aguilar (Flyweight)
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed (Strawweight)
Seung Guk Choi vs. Hyun Sung Park (Flyweight)
Toshiomi Kazama vs. Rinya Nakamura (Bantamweight)
Yi Zha vs. Jeong Young Lee (Featherweight)
Jeka Saragih vs. Anshul Jubli (Lightweight)
