Davey Grant off UFC Liverpool due to staph
TUF 18 contestant Davey Grant has had another bout fall apart at the last minute, this time after being diagnosed with a staph infection.
Davey Grant’s UFC career has been snakebit from day one. Runner up on Season 18 of the Ultimate Fighter, back in 2013, Grant has only competed twice in the Octagon during the five years since.
A torn meniscus one day out from UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa cancelled a planned bout against Roland Delorme, and a whole string of injuries followed. Grant finally returned in 2016 with two bouts, but in a submission loss to Damian Stasiak, the Polish bantamweight claimed he heard Grant’s arm crack twice. Grant hasn’t fought since.
Now it appears the comeback bid for SBG Mainline fighter out of Bishop Auckland, England, has been delayed again. MMA Fighting confirmed a report by MMANytt that Grant has been removed from this weekend’s UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till card in Liverpool, England. The cause? A recently diagnosed staph infection.
Grant posted a statement about the fight cancellation on Instagram.
“I am devastated to announce that due to an infection in my arm, the UFC doctors have decided that I am not able to fight at UFC Liverpool,” Grant wrote on the social media platform. “To everybody that has supported me throughout this fight camp and up to this fight - especially my coaching team, management, sponsors and family - THANK YOU.
“To Manny Bermudez, I am so sorry. I am gutted beyond words that we didn’t get the chance to fight. I have every respect for you, and wish you the very best. I hope we can meet again soon.
“To UFC, I promise to get past this and back into action - ready to go as soon as possible.”
As such, it appears the May 27th UFC Liverpool event will go forward with only eleven bouts. A previously scheduled prelim fight between Claudio Silva and Nordine Taleb has been moved to the main card. No word yet on whether Grant vs. Bermudez will be re-booked or whether or not either man will receive any portion of their fight purse due to the late cancellation.