UFC Raleigh: Undisclosed injury forces Josh Emmett out of Arnold Allen fight

UFC Raleigh has taken a major hit.

MMA Junkie has learned from sources close to the situation that Josh Emmett (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) has been forced out of his UFC on ESPN+ 24 fight vs. Arnold Allen (15-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on Jan. 25 due to an undisclosed injury.

Emmett was looking to make it three wins in a row with victory against in-form Brit Allen, and was heading into the event following back-to-back knockouts over Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektic, with the latter earning him a “Performance of the Night” bonus last July.

Allen, meanwhile, is yet to suffer a loss in the UFC, and defeated former Strikeforce and WEC lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez in his last outing at UFC 239 in July 2019. Victory for the 25-year-old would have catapulted the talented Englishman towards the sharp end of the UFC’s featherweight rankings.

With that change, the current UFC on ESPN+ 24 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Curtis Blaydes vs. Junior Dos Santos
• Michael Chiesa vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Jordan Espinosa vs. Alex Perez
• Hannah Cifers vs. Angela Hill
• Jamahal Hill vs. Darko Stosic

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

• Justine Kish vs. Lucie Pudilova
• Bevon Lewis vs. Dequan Townsend
• Felipe Colares vs. Montel Jackson
• Lina Lansberg vs. Sara McMann
• Brett Johns vs. Tony Gravely
• Herbert Burns vs. Nate Landwehr
• Nik Lentz vs. Nad Narimani