Anthony Hernandez withdraws from UFC 302 due to hand injury

April 30, 2024 11:40 am ET

Anthony Hernandez has been forced to pull out of UFC 302.

Hernandez (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was scheduled to face Roman Dolidze (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., but he withdrew due to a hand injury.

“Fluffy” took to Instagram Monday night to explain what happened.

“On Friday while training I sustained an injury, I got my MRI results back this morning and unfortunately due to a torn ligament in my hand, I will no longer be able to fight on June 1. I want to apologize to the @ufc , my opponent, & the best matchmaker @mickmaynard2 but this was not an injury I could push through. I hope for a quick return and be back in the cage before summer ends. Thank you to all my fans, friends & family for the continued support 🫶🏽 … the journey continues 🧘🏻‍♂️👹🙏🏽.”

Hernandez was looking to build on his five-fight winning streak. He is coming off back-to-back finishes of Edmen Shahbazyan and most recently a Performance of the Night submission over Roman Kopylov at UFC 298.

After amassing a four-fight winning streak, including a TKO finish of Jack Hermansson, Georgia’s Dolidze dropped two straight to Marvin Vettori and Nassourdine Imavov.

With the change, the current UFC 302 lineup includes:

Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – for lightweight title
Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa – five-round co-main event
Roman Dolidze vs. opponent TBA
Su Mudaerji vs. Tatsuro Taira
Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov
Joselyne Edwards vs. Ailin Perez
Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez
Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki
Jake Matthews vs. Phil Rowe
Andre Lima vs. Hyun Sung Park
Niko Price vs. Jeremiah Wells
Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.