Injury forces Mike Davis out of UFC on ESPN+ 27 fight vs. Giga Chikadze

Mike Davis’ much anticipated return will have to wait.

Davis (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has been forced out of his UFC on ESPN+ 27 fight vs. Giga Chikadze (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) because of an undisclosed injury, MMA Junkie has learned from sources close to the situation. A replacement opponent has yet to be found.

After dropping his UFC debut to Gilbert Burns on short notice, Davis turned things around emphatically by stepping in on short notice once again, delivering a one-sided beating against Thomas Gifford at UFC on ESPN+ 19. The “Dana White’s Contender Series” veteran finished the fight with a brutal shot to Gifford’s body with just 15 seconds remaining.

Former Glory kickboxer Chikadze also failed to secure a win on DWCS, but after notching two finishes at Gladiator Challenge he was signed to the UFC. He made good on his UFC debut, narrowly defeating Brandon Davis at UFC on ESPN+ 18.

UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Feb. 29 at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card will stream on ESPN+.

With the change, the current UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup includes:

• Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo – for vacant flyweight title
• Megan Anderson vs. Norma Dumont
• Zarah Fairn vs. Felicia Spencer
• Kyler Phillips vs. Gabriel Silva
• Brendan Allen vs. Tom Breese
• Sean Brady vs. Ismail Naurdiev
• Spike Carlyle vs. Aalon Cruz
• T.J. Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
• Alex Munoz vs. Luis Pena
• TJ Brown vs. Jordan Griffin
• Serghei Spivac vs. Marcin Tybura
• Grant Dawson vs. TBA
• Giga Chikadze vs. TBA