John Castaneda Withdraws From UFC 313 Bout With Chris
Chris Gutierrez and John Castaneda did not fight at UFC 313. The featherweight bout was removed from the March 8, 2025, card in Las Vegas after Castaneda became ill, the UFC announced on event day. Their matchup had been assembled on short notice after changes to the card, and the late withdrawal left Gutierrez without an opponent at T-Mobile Arena.
Illness forced the late cancellation
The UFC’s event update said that illness affecting Castaneda led to the cancellation. The promotion did not publicly specify the illness. As a result, the scheduled featherweight contest never began, and no official result was recorded for either fighter at UFC 313. The withdrawal also changed the event’s preliminary lineup shortly before the show.
Gutierrez had originally been scheduled to face Jean Matsumoto at UFC 313. Matsumoto was later moved to another event, and Castaneda stepped in as a replacement. With Castaneda unable to compete, Gutierrez’s planned appearance was canceled for a second time during the same event cycle. The UFC’s official update confirmed that both the Gutierrez-Castaneda fight and the Curtis Blaydes-Rizvan Kuniev heavyweight bout were removed because of illness.
The matchup was later rescheduled
The cancellation postponed rather than ended the pairing. Gutierrez and Castaneda eventually met at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City on April 26, 2025, in a featherweight contest. Gutierrez won by split decision, with the judges scoring it 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28. The later result gave the original UFC 313 preview a conclusion, but it should not be confused with an outcome from the March event.
For Gutierrez, the rescheduled bout provided an opportunity to compete after his original opponent change and the subsequent cancellation. Castaneda, meanwhile, returned after recovering from the illness that had kept him off the UFC 313 card. The UFC’s Kansas City prelim results list Gutierrez as the split-decision winner.
A reminder that fight cards can change
Late cancellations are part of the logistical uncertainty of live combat sports, particularly when an athlete becomes ill during fight week. UFC 313 proceeded with a revised lineup, while the two affected fighters eventually returned to compete. The most accurate account of this matchup is therefore two-part: it was canceled on March 8 because of Castaneda’s illness, then completed seven weeks later with Gutierrez taking a split decision.
Later results for both fighters
After their rescheduled fight, Gutierrez lost a unanimous decision to Farid Basharat in October 2025. Castaneda returned in 2026, drawing with Mark Vologdin in April before losing a split decision to Alatengheili in September. Their UFC fighter histories list those later results.
Watch Chris Gutierrez’s UFC 313 fight-week interview, recorded before the bout was canceled.
