UFC 334 lightweight bout scrapped after both Sadykhov and Nascimento suffer injuries

A lightweight bout between Nazim Sadykhov and Jefferson Nascimento has been removed from UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 14, after both fighters were forced out through injury.

Nascimento was the first to withdraw, prompting Sadykhov to reveal he had also been managing an injury sustained in the opening days of his training camp. Rather than accept a replacement opponent, Sadykhov asked the UFC to leave the slot unfilled.

“Bad news is I won’t be fighting in MSG,” Sadykhov wrote on Instagram. “I suffered an injury on the first days of camp and have been dealing with them for over 5 weeks now. Initially, the plan was to work around it and go and fight anyway. My opponent withdrew due to injury so myself and my team decided to let the UFC know to not find a replacement.”

Sadykhov offered reassurance that the injury will not require surgery or an extended recovery period. “Good news is I won’t need any surgeries or prolonged recoveries. I will deal with this injury and jump back in as soon as possible,” he added.

Sadykhov (11-3-1) arrived in the UFC with an unblemished run through his first five appearances in the promotion before consecutive technical knockout defeats dented his record. Nascimento (13-1) had entered the card looking to rebound from his first career loss, which came in his UFC debut in June.

The removal of the bout leaves a gap on the UFC 334 card, though the promotion has not announced a replacement fight at this stage.