UFC 331 this weekend has taken a hit as Brian Ortega is out of his lightweight fight against Renato Moicano.
Ortega and Moicano were set to rematch in a fun fight. The two fought back at UFC 214 in 2017, with Ortega winning by submission and winning the Fight of the Night Award.
Now, over eight years later, the two were supposed to rematch, but this time at lightweight in a pivotal fight for both of their careers as they are both looking to remain in the title picture. Yet, just days before UFC 331, Ortega was forced out of the bout due to an injury, the UFC announced.
Ortega hasn’t fought since August of 2025 when he dropped a decision to Aljamain Sterling. He’s on a two-fight losing skid and is 1-4 in his last five.
Although Ortega is out of the bout, Moicano was also removed from the card, as a short-notice opponent wasn’t found. Instead, the UFC announced that Moicano will headline UFC Vegas 123 on October 31 against surging lightweight contender Tom Nolan.
“As a result, Moicano will now face No. 11 ranked contender Tom Nolan in the main event of UFC FIGHT NIGHT taking place on October 31 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Moicano steps into his fourth UFC main event looking for another signature stoppage victory as he takes on the rising Australian Nolan who is on an impressive five-fight win streak,” the UFC wrote in a press release.
Moicano is coming off a submission win over Chris Duncan to return to the win column. Nolan, meanwhile, is ranked 14th in the UFC’s lightweight division.
With Moicano vs. Ortega off UFC 331, the card is as follows:
UFC 331
- Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja – for flyweight title
- Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy
- Patricio Pitbull vs. Doo Ho Choi
- Iwo Baraniewski vs. Alonzo Menifield
- Gable Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf
- Charles Jourdain vs. Marlon Vera
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Robelis Despaigne
- Michael Aswell Jr. vs. Joo Sang Yoo
- Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brunno Ferreira
- Casey O’Neill vs. Eduarda Moura
- Giga Chikadze vs. Joanderson Brito
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