John Lineker Injured and Forced to Withdraw From UFC 219

In some bad news for UFC 219, MMAjunkie reports that John Lineker is now injured and has been forced to withdraw from his originally scheduled bantamweight bout with Jimmie Rivera. The scratching of the fight currently leaves Rivera without an opponent.

UFC officials confirmed Lineker’s injury and removal from the event. A search for a replacement to still fight Rivera is still underway. With Rivera ranked at No. 4 in the division, the fight would’ve put the winner very close to a possible shot at the title.

With the fight scheduled in just six days, it will be difficult to find a serious opponent to face Rivera on such short notice. However, several UFC fighters have tweeted Rivera on Twitter and volunteered to step up to fight him on six days notice. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen

Merry Christmas @JimmieRivera135 I’m in shape and haven’t had Christmas dinner yet ! I’ll step in to save your honeymoon from being postponed again

— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) December 24, 2017

.@chitoveraUFC just told me he's down to step in for Lineker and face Rivera. https://t.co/BQlEwpN8OJ

— Farah Hannoun (@Farah_Hannoun) December 24, 2017

@JimmieRivera135 what’s up? Now it’s me and you. You can’t run anymore let’s do this @seanshelby @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite @ufc

— Marlon Moraes (@MMARLONMORAES) December 24, 2017

For his part, Lineker apologized for the withdrawal with the following statement to MMAjunkie:

“I am really sad to have to withdraw from my fight with Rivera. I felt a little pain in the beginning of the week, went to the dentist and got treated, but (the pain) just kept getting worse. I came to Las Vegas early and tried to stay in the fight, but it was simply impossible.

“I would like to apologize to Rivera. I know how much it sucks when this happens. I want to apologize to Sean Shelby and the UFC. I begged them for the fight, and they agreed, and now I feel horrible to have to withdraw. And I need to apologize to the fans.

“I know that this would have been a great fight and everyone was looking forward to it,” Lineker said. “Hopefully Rivera and the UFC will agree to reschedule as soon as I can be ready to fight again.”

UFC 219 is set for December 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be broadcast live on pay-per-view. Prelims will be shown live on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.