Croatian Ante Delija will have to wait for UFC debut
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Ante Delija (Photo credit: Sebastian Rudnicki/KSW)
Croatian heavyweight MMA fighter Ante Delija will have to wait for his UFC debut.
Delija signed a contract with the world’s biggest mixed martial arts organisation and was due to make his debut on October 17 at an event at fight island in Abu Dhabi.
The Croatian was set to fight French fighter Ciryl Game, who is undefeated in the UFC, winning all three of his fights.
Originally from Dubrovnik, Delija has been on fight island for a few days but news has broken today that the fight has been withdrawn from the card because of contractual issues on the Croatian’s side. The news was confirmed by Deljia’s manager Ivan Dijaković to Fight Site.
Delija later explained the situation in a statement on Instagram.
“Unfortunately, something happened which was nobody expected. The fight was canceled due to an administrative error, namely, I did not get the termination of the contract by the PFL and this news caught me when I had already come to Abu Dhabi. As an athlete, whose focus is exclusively on fighting, I did not deal with the logistical part of my performance. I was disappointed and taken aback by this whole situation, I had the ideal opportunity to perform as a co-main fight at an event in the best organisation in the world, but it is what it is. I hope to be in the ring again soon. Thank you all for your support. Let’s move on,” he said.
A number of fighters have already had problems with the PFL promotion, of which Delija was a member. The PFL canceled their entire season this year, but some fighters were not given contract terminations, which left them without the opportunity to fight.
The UFC will not replace the fight.
Deljia trains with Mirko Cro Cop Filipović and his team in Zagreb. He has a 17-3 record in his career with his last fight at KSW 51 in Zagreb last November when he beat Oli Thompson via TKO in the second round.
The October 17 fight night will be headed by the fight between Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung.
