The UFC Vegas 88 strawweight bout between Stephanie Luciano and Julia Polastri has been cancelled due to Polastri contracting dengue fever.
Well, Stephanie Luciano and Julia Polastri are gonna have to wait a bit longer to step into the octagon. Rondinha’s been forced to pull out of the all-Brazilian strawweight bout at UFC Vegas 88. Why? She’s sick, poor thing.
Polastri was the first to break the news. She took to social media to announce the match’s cancellation. Luciano, on the other hand, used her platform to share some personal news. She’s battling dengue fever, folks.
Dengue’s a big problem in Brazil right now. Several cities have declared an epidemic, with hundreds of thousands of cases reported in 2024 alone. Polastri’s hometown, Belo Horizonte, is one of them. They’ve declared a state of emergency and even opened a temporary hospital. Why? They’ve registered more than 145,000 cases and 44 deaths due to dengue fever in 2024.
Polastri shared some details on Instagram. She said, “I’m not feeling well, with pain in the body and joints, fever and headache. So my team and I made the decision to cancel the fight.” She added, “Unfortunately, we had to cancel the fight. I know a lot of people were anxious to see me debut, and it was so close already, but we can’t control these things. We can’t predict this. I’ll take care of myself, take care of my health, and I want to fight as soon as possible.”
She’d already flown to Las Vegas before the bout was cancelled. But she indicated on her social media that the UFC won’t find a replacement for Luciano. So, what’s next?
UFC Vegas 89 is still happening, folks. It’ll take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The headlining attraction? Amanda Ribas vs. Rose Namajunas. Check out the updated line-up below:
Amanda Ribas vs. Rose Namajunas
Karl Williams vs. Justin Tafa
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. AJ Dobson
Payton Talbott vs. Cameron Saaiman
Billy Quarantillo vs. Youssef Zalal
Fernando Padilla vs. Luis Pajuelo
Karl Holobaugh vs. Trey Odgen
Ricardo Ramos vs. Julian Erosa
Miles Johns vs. Cody Gibson
Jarno Errens vs. Steven Nguyen
Montserrat Rendon vs. Daria Zhelezniakova
Igor Severino vs. Andre Lima
Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin
There you have it. Stay tuned for more updates, folks!