UFC 298 suffers setback after middleweight fighter pulls out due to injury

UFC 298 is set to take place this weekend. However, the second pay-per-view event of 2024 has lost a preliminary card bout. Tresean Gore has been forced out of his middleweight bout against AJ Dobson after suffering an undisclosed injury.

The UFC recently shared a press release to address the situation, stating:

"Due to injury, Tresean Gore has been removed from his middleweight bout with AJ Dobson. As a result, this bout has been cancelled from this weekend’s card."

With the event just four days away, the promotion scrapped the bout altogether rather than looking to find a replacement to face Dobson. This marks the second consecutive bout that Gore has pulled out of just days prior to the event.

Gore was scheduled to face Bo Nickal at UFC 290 in July 2023. However, he suffered a torn ligament in his wrist and withdrew from the event before being replaced by promotional newcomer Val Woodburn. 'Mr. Vicious' has not competed since defeating Josh Fremd via second-recond submission at UFC Fight Night 213 in October 2022.

UFC 298 will continue with just 12 fights, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski defending his featherweight title against No.3-ranked featherweight Ilia Topuria. No.3-ranked middleweight Robert Whittaker will face No.6-ranked middleweight Paulo Costa in the co-main event.

The main card will also feature a bout between No.8-ranked welterweight Geoff Neal and No.10-ranked welterweight Ian Garry and a potential title eliminator between No.2-ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili and No.3-ranked bantamweight Henry Cejudo. No.15-ranked middleweight Anthony Hernandez will defend his ranking against unranked Roman Kopylov to open the pay-per-view.

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Henry Cejudo could retire if he loses at UFC 298

Henry Cejudo returned from a three-year hiatus from mixed martial arts in 2023 as he was challenged by Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 288, losing the bout via split decision. The No.3-ranked bantamweight will face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298, with a title opportunity likely on the line.

During a recent appearance on The HJR Experiment, the former double champ hinted that he could retire with a loss, stating:

"This is for the No.1 contender spot. I think after losing to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again. Yeah, man, because it's just like, this sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids and things like that... It's all or nothing, man."

Check out Henry Cejudo's comments on retiring if he loses to Merab Dvalishvili below (starting at the 0:39 mark):

Cejudo is just one of four fighters in UFC history to achieve double champ status. However, his legendary combat sports career, which also includes an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling, could be coming to an end if he is unable to emerge victorious at UFC 298.