Jamie Mullarkey out at UFC Auckland, promotion seeks new opponent for Jalin Turner

Australian lightweight Jamie Mullarkey has been forced to withdraw from UFC on ESPN+ 26.

MMA Junkie today confirmed with UFC officials that injury has forced Mullarkey (14-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) out of the event, which takes place Feb. 22 (Feb. 23 locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. A search is now underway for a new opponent for Jalin Turner (8-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC).

Turner was in action most recently in April, suffering a disappointing decision loss to Matt Frevola. That followed a scintillating 53-second TKO of Callan Potter at February’s UFC 234 in Australia. “The Tarantula” now looks for a new opponent in his return to action after 10 months on the sidelines.

A timetable for Mullarkey’s return wasn’t immediately established.

The latest UFC on ESPN+ 26 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Yan Xiaonan
Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell
Kevin Aguilar vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

Jalin Turner vs. opponent TBA
Jake Matthews vs. Emil Meek
Song Kenan vs. Callan Potter
Kai Kara-France vs. Tyson Nam
Hannah Goldy vs. Loma Lookboonmee
Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Shana Dobson