UFC Perth faces disappointing fight cancellation less than 48 hours before event

The UFC Fight Night event goes down at the RAC Arena tomorrow night.

(Zuffa LLC)

UFC Fight Night Perth has been hit with a major bout cancellation less than 48 hours before the event is set to take place.

Returning from an off week that followed the third edition of Noche UFC, the UFC heads back to Australia this Saturday for a UFC Fight Night event at Perth’s RAC Arena.

The card is headlined by a possible light heavyweight title eliminator fight between Carlos Ulberg and Dominick Reyes, but unfortunately on Thursday night the UFC announced that Oban Elliott has withdrawn from his welterweight contest with Jonathan Micallef due to illness.

Oban Elliott Withdraws From UFC Perth

In addition to the Elliott vs. Micallef cancellation, the UFC’s update regarding Perth also confirmed the previously-reported news that Junior Tafa was out of his light heavyweight co-main event with Ibo Aslan. Another light heavyweight bout between Jimmy Crute vs. Ivan Erslan will now serve as the card’s penultimate fight.

Oban Elliott (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Bassil Hafez (red gloves) in a welterweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

A contract winner on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, Elliott punched his ticket to the UFC with a majority decision over Kaik Brito following four-straight wins in Cage Warriors. His UFC career got off to a hot start with back-to-back decision victories, and he closed out 2024 with his first Octagon finish when he stopped Bassil Hafez with strikes at UFC 309 and earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his efforts.

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“The Welsh Gangster” came into a UFC Baku matchup with Seok Hyeon Ko as a heavy favorite in June, but Elliott ended up losing a unanimous decision that snapped an eight-fight win streak and marked the first setback of the 27-year-old’s UFC career.

Jonathan Micallef Misses Out On Second UFC Fight In Australia

Elliott’s withdrawal costs Micallef a chance to pick up a second Octagon victory in his home country, and like Elliott the 26-year-old also joined the ranks of the UFC following a win on DWCS last year.

Jonathan Micallef scored a first-round submission on DWCS. | (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

After submitting the formerly-undefeated Mohamed Ado in the first round to earn a UFC contract, Micallef was matched with Kevin Jousset for his promotional debut at UFC 312. Joussett was only one loss removed from a five-fight win streak and 2-0 start to his own UFC run, but Micallef picked up a unanimous decision to hand “Air” the first back-to-back losses of his career.

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Provided there are no issues during the weigh-ins today, the loss of Elliott vs. Micallef still leaves UFC Perth with a total of 13 fights.

UFC Perth Fight Card

• Main Event: Carlos Ulberg vs. Dominick Reyes

• Co-Main Event: Jimmy Crute vs. Ivan Erslan

• Jack Jenkins vs. Ramon Taveras

• Jake Matthews vs. Neil Magny

• Louie Sutherland vs. Justin Tafa

• Tom Nolan vs. Charlie Campbell

• Navajo Stirling vs. Rodolfo Bellato

• Andre Petroski vs. Cam Rowston

• Jamie Mullarkey vs. Roland Bedoya

• Colby Thicknesse vs. Josias Musasa

• Luana Carolina vs. Michelle Montague

• Brando Pericic vs. Elisha Ellison

• Loma Lookboonmee vs. Alexia Thainara

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