UFC 290 Fight Card Suffers Another Huge Blow

Josiah Harrell’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) career seems to have lasted all of four days. According to UFC Roster Watch, Harrell was removed from the promotion’s roster shortly after he was deemed medically unfit to compete at UFC 290 — which is set to go down this Saturday night (July 8, 2023) in Las Vegas, Nevada — following the weigh ins (full results here).

According to MMA Fighting, a serious undisclosed medical issue on Harrell’s side prompted officials to yank him and scrap his Welterweight fight against Jack Della Maddalena, which he took on a week’s notice after Sean Brady bowed out with a nasty staph infection (see it here).

Harrell was coming in with a 7-0 record, having finished all seven of his opponents — four knockouts and three submissions. Unfortunately, it seems as if “Muscle Hamster” won’t be getting a chance to make his UFC debut anytime soon, if ever.

As for Maddalena, his second cancelled fight in a little over a week might come with a silver lining because depending on how long it takes Brady to recover, UFC matchmakers could very well re-book that captivating matchup down the road. Maddalena is 4-0 inside the Octagon and has once again shown that Contender Series alums are the real deal, with all of his UFC fights ending in the very first round.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard bouts on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 290: “Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 290 fight card and PPV lineup click here.