Anthony Hernandez withdraws from UFC 302 due to hand injury

Anthony Hernandez has been forced to pull out of UFC 302.

Hernandez (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was scheduled to face Roman Dolidze (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., but he withdrew due to a hand injury.

“Fluffy” took to Instagram Monday night to explain what happened.

“On Friday while training I sustained an injury, I got my MRI results back this morning and unfortunately due to a torn ligament in my hand, I will no longer be able to fight on June 1. I want to apologize to the @ufc , my opponent, & the best matchmaker @mickmaynard2 but this was not an injury I could push through. I hope for a quick return and be back in the cage before summer ends. Thank you to all my fans, friends & family for the continued support … the journey continues .”

Hernandez was looking to build on his five-fight winning streak. He is coming off back-to-back finishes of Edmen Shahbazyan and most recently a Performance of the Night submission over Roman Kopylov at UFC 298.

After amassing a four-fight winning streak, including a TKO finish of Jack Hermansson, Georgia’s Dolidze dropped two straight to Marvin Vettori and Nassourdine Imavov.

With the change, the current UFC 302 lineup includes:

• Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – for lightweight title
• Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa – five-round co-main event
• Roman Dolidze vs. opponent TBA
• Su Mudaerji vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov
• Joselyne Edwards vs. Ailin Perez
• Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez
• Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki
• Jake Matthews vs. Phil Rowe
• Andre Lima vs. Hyun Sung Park
• Niko Price vs. Jeremiah Wells
• Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.