Reece ‘Lightning’ McLaren has unfortunately pulled out of his UAE Warriors world bantamweight title fight due to safety concerns over the war in the Middle East.
Read the full statement from his gym, CMBT Training Centre:
Update: It is with great disappointment that our team made the decision to pull @reecelightning91 from his @uae_warriors world title fight this weekend.
Over the last few weeks, we have been monitoring the situation in the Middle East and working closely with management and the team at UAE Warriors to assess the safety for us to travel to compete.
Despite Reece wanting to commit to this fight, we felt that the risks to our safety were too high, and the potential of us getting stuck in the Middle East were the ultimate reasons for our decision to pull Reece out.
As anyone in this sport knows, training for a 5-round world title fight is intense, expensive and requires full commitment. Reece was more than ready and prepared for this opportunity to finally claim a world title that’s evaded him for so long – but unfortunately, this was not our time.
Huge thank you to @elliotcpt_mngt and @rubyse for managing the intense situation and supporting our decision. Also, thank you to @uae_warriors for being a great promotion to work with and understanding our position. We wish so much success to the event this weekend.
We have now been working hard to get Reece a fight, but as you can imagine, it’s not easy matching one of the best Bantam / Flyweights in the world. No one wants to risk their record.
Reece is in his prime and has never been fitter, stronger or more skillful. We can only hope that we can find the next opportunity fast for him, so he can continue building his legacy in the sport, while he can.
Thanks to everyone involved in his camp. Let’s just keep this thing running, and the fighting gods will direct us to the next challenge.
Fight News Australia spoke to Reece prior to his fight being cancelled, and we can share how prepared and grateful he and his team were to compete for the title.
“I’m just lucky enough to be given this shot at the belt,” Reece said before the fight fell through.
“My timing at the moment in this sport is just bizarre.
“I’m about to fight for a world title and there’s a war.”