Injured Tatiana Suarez off UFC 266; Diaz protégé among new additions to card

Tatiana Suarez’s long-awaited return to the cage has been unfortunately delayed again.

Suarez’s last walk to the cage was at UFC 238 in June of 2019 against Nina Nunes, but has faced a lengthy layoff due to a neck injury. Last month, news of her return broke as she was set to face former title challenger Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 266.

Unfortunately, Suarez suffered an injury in training, further delaying her return to action. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the injury with MMA Junkie.

UFC 266 takes place on July 30, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and features two title fights as Alexander Volkanovski will look to defend his featherweight title against Brian Ortega, and women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will take on challenger Lauren Murphy.

While the event lost one key matchup in Suarez vs. Modafferi, the promotion announced multiple additions to UFC 266 on Tuesday via press release.

Nick Maximov, a Nick and Nate Diaz training partner, will make his promotional debut against fellow Dana White’s Contender Series veteran Karl Roberson.

A pair of surging bantamweights on impressive winning streaks will meet as Ricky Simon is set to face Timur Valiev.

A bout that has been rescheduled twice prior has found a new landing spot, as Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus lands on UFC 266 after falling through at UFC on ESPN 27 and UFC on ESPN 28.

The current UFC 266 lineup includes:

• Champ Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega – for featherweight title
• Champ Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy – for women’s flyweight title
• Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler – five-round, non-title bout
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
• Jessica Andrade vs. Cynthia Calvillo
• Marlon Moraes vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus
• Ricky Simon vs. Timur Valiev
• Manon Fiorot vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
• Uros Medic vs. Jalin Turner
• Karl Roberson vs. Nick Maximov