Milton Boots Barnett From UFC Vegas 98

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Hurricane Milton is shaking up the UFC Vegas 98 fight card.

Heavyweight hurter Chris Barnett is from Tampa, Florida, which is directly in the line of fire of this week’s catastrophic storm. As a result, “Huggy Bear” will be unable to participate in the upcoming UFC Vegas 98 MMA event on Oct. 12 in “Sin City.”

Replacing Barnett is UFC newcomer Sean Sharaf. The Californian is a perfect 4-0 with four first-round knockouts. His first assignment comes against veteran bruiser Junior Tafa (5-3), who agreed to the short-notice fight after Barnett withdrew.

UFC.com brought word of the change on Wednesday.

This isn’t the first time a “Sunshine State” superstorm has affected UFC plans. Back in late 2017, former welterweight contender Thiago Alves got stranded by Hurricane Irma, leading to the cancellation of his Mike Perry showdown in Pittsburgh.

Hopefully Barnett and his family will be able to preserve their property and safely evacuate.