Sean Strickland out of UFC Vegas 62 headliner with Jared Cannonier due to gruesome hand infection

UFC middleweight contender, Sean Strickland has been forced from a scheduled October 15. Fight Night billed main event clash with recent title challenger, Jared Cannonier, after the North Carolina native suffered a gruesome finger infection whilst training earlier this month.

Strickland, the current #7 ranked middleweight contender, last featured on the main card of UFC 276 back in July during International Fight Week, suffering a brutal first round knockout loss to the surging incoming title challenger, Alex Pereira.

Headlining that UFC 276 event, Cannonier challenged for undisputed middleweight gold against division pacesetter, Israel Adesanya, dropping a unanimous decision loss to the Nigerian-Kiwi in a forgettable headlining matchup.

Sean Strickland is set to undergo a surgical procedure to address his hand injury

Booked to make a rather quickfire Octagon return following his first round knockout loss, Strickland has since been forced to withdraw from his October 15. main event clash after suffering a rather gruesome finger infection during training, after he punched a sparring partner’s tooth inadvertently. Sean Strickland is now expected to undergo a surgical procedure to boot. 

Following Dana White’s Contender Series last night, White, who confirmed Strickland’s cancelled fight with Cannonier – also confirmed that the pairing had been entirely scrapped, with Cannonier also removed from the October card as a result. 

Riding an impressive run of six consecutive victories ahead of his UFC 276 loss to Pereira, Sean Strickland had headlined UFC Vegas 47 back in February, where he managed to secure a close, split decision win over Jack Hermansson at the UFC Apex facility. 

The UFC Vegas 62 card now contains 10 total fights, with the promotion yet to confirm an official headliner in place of Strickland vs. Cannonier at the time of publication. The next highest-profile fight on the card comes in the form of a flyweight matchup between Russian technician, Askar Askarov, and Brandon Royval.