From start to finish, a total of five UFC 309 fights were either canceled or fizzled out – with Eryk Anders’ withdrawal from the event announced just a few hours before the pair were scheduled to make the walk at Madison Square Garden.

 

“One bit of not-so-great news, due to a medical issue involving Eryk Anders, his middleweight prelim with Chris Weidman is now off,” explained Jon Anik from the commentary desk, with Joe Rogan calling the situation “terrible” for the former champion.

 

“Urgh, that’s a bummer for Weidman because, you know, Weidman’s comeback has been so brutal and so hard, he’s gone through 30 surgeries to get where he is now and for him the day of the fight to have it called off, it’s terrible.”

 

Taking to Instagram late last night, Anders would reveal that he was forced out of UFC 309 after coming down with a nasty case of food poisoning – which started impacting his preparation on Friday evening after the official weigh-ins.

 

“Throwing up all Friday night and in the morning on Saturday… Feeling much better today, up and active – still feeling a little weak.

 

“Status update- got food poisoning Friday night and there was no way I would have been able to go out there and compete,” Anders continued in the caption of his post.

 

“Super upset I didn’t get to compete at MSG against a former champ. I seriously doubt that opportunity will come around again, but it is what it is… Hopefully, we can get that matchup rebooked asap. Thank you all for the messages of concern.”