Ray Borg out of UFC Fight Night Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili gets replacement opponent after contract dispute

UFC bantamweight Ray Borg is out of his scheduled bout against Merab Dvalishvili this weekend at UFC Fight Night Las Vegas due to personal reasons.

Borg is no stranger from withdrawing to fights due to personal issues, and unfortunately, sometimes the withdrawals have been to his son Anthony’s well-documented medical issues. After the UFC announced Borg was out of the fight, the former flyweight title challenger took to social media to post a picture of his son. Check out Borg’s Twitter below.

Family first, see you soon son. pic.twitter.com/sql3RqsmK4

— Ray Borg (@tazmexufc) June 11, 2020

Family first, see you soon son.

Fortunately for Dvalishvili, the UFC was able to find a replacement opponent on short notice after Borg withdrew. With the fight just two days away, the UFC has called upon former Combate Americas bantamweight champion Gustavo Lopez to fill the slot on short notice for Borg. It is worth noting that Dvalishvili vs. Lopez will be contested at a 140lbs catchweight due to the extremely short-notice nature of the bout.

However, the fight was very close to not happening. After the UFC announced Lopez was taking the fight for Borg, Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren took to social media to announce that Lopez was in breach of his contract. According to McLaren, Lopez was still under contract and the promotion had not given their blessing to Lopez taking this fight against Dvalishvili in the UFC.

https://twitter.com/campbellcombate/status/1271192374354591744

Combate Americas has decided to allow @Gustavo11Lopez to move forward and fight in the UFC this Saturday night. We wish him the best of luck with the rest of his career

Lopez’s manager Danny Rubenstein took to social media to announce that due to his own error he had not been aware that Lopez was still under contract with Combate Americas.

As a manager, I have made a mistake and @combateamericas does indeed have matching right to @Gustavo11Lopez and I have officially requested his release for him to fight this weekend in the UFC in Las Vegas. @campbellcombate

— Daniel Rubenstein (@dannyrube) June 11, 2020

As a manager, I have made a mistake and @combateamericas does indeed have matching right to @Gustavo11Lopez and I have officially requested his release for him to fight this weekend in the UFC in Las Vegas. @campbellcombate

While McLaren had every right to block Lopez’s fight in the UFC, he chose to do the right thing, announcing Combates had released Lopez to fight in the Octagon. Lopez will now take on Dvalishvili in one of the featured main card bouts on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/campbellcombate/status/1271225792719204353

Combate Americas has decided to allow @Gustavo11Lopez to move forward and fight in the UFC this Saturday night. We wish him the best of luck with the rest of his career

We are BJPenn.com wish Ray Borg and his family the best.