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Cancellation latest seback in Grant’s UFC quest – Metro US

Cancellation latest seback in Grant’s UFC quest

T.J. Grant has been dealt another setback in his bid to get back into the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage.

The Cole Harbour mixed martial artist has seen Saturday’s scheduled undercard bout with Rory Markham at The Ultimate Fighter 9 in Las Vegas scrapped at the last minute. Markham has informed Grant he has an injury.

It’s the second fight Grant has had cancelled in the past month for the same event. The original bout, on the main card against Martin Kampmann, was nixed late last month.

“It sucks,” Grant said. “I put a lot of work into it, but it’s not like it will hurt me to put in a little extra work. As long as I can fight this summer, I’m sure everything’s going to work out.”

Grant, who signed a four-fight UFC contract this year, won his debut in April at UFC 97 in Montreal and improved to 14-2 overall. Kampmann’s cancellation was tough to swallow because it would have put Grant in the UFC spotlight, while Markham’s leaves him itching to get back into action.

“I was looking forward to fighting this fight and then enjoying a little bit of the summer,” Grant said. “You don’t get to enjoy your summer as much when you’re training for a fight.”

The 25-year-old is at a key point in his career and he hopes UFC will find him a fight by August at the latest. He’s the first Nova Scotian raised-and-trained UFC fighter and could start making a name for himself with a few more wins.

“I’m just going to keep at it,” Grant said.

“It’s not the end of the world. Everything happens for a reason and maybe because of this I’ll get a bigger fight down the road.”