UFC on ESPN 56 loses welterweight bout for 'medical reasons'

UFC on ESPN 56 has one less fight on its lineup than it did at the start of official weigh-ins.

The welterweight prelim between Jared Gooden and Kevin Jousset was canceled during the official weigh-in window Friday at the athlete host hotel. The event takes place Saturday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Jousset made weight less than 10 minutes into the window, but Gooden never showed up. The promotion announced prior to the window’s close that due to “medical reasons,” Gooden was unable to compete.

Gooden is a repeat offender when it comes to weight misses. In six UFC bouts over two separate stints with the promotion, Gooden has missed the welterweight limit twice: once by three pounds and once by six.

Neither party has publicly commented on the cancellation at the time of publication and it’s unclear whether Jousset will be quickly rebooked.

With the cancellation, the UFC on ESPN 56 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Derrick Lewis vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
• Joaquin Buckley vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Carlos Ulberg
• Diego Ferreira vs. Mateusz Rebecki
• Alex Caceres vs. Sean Woodson
• Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Robelis Despaigne

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Chase Hooper
• Terrance McKinney vs. Esteban Ribovics
• Tecia Pennington vs. Tabatha Ricci
• Billy Goff vs. Trey Waters
• Jake Hadley vs. Charles Johnson
• JJ Aldrich vs. Veronica Hardy

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 56.