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John Locher/Associated Press

UFC 213 kind of stumbled over itself, swallowed up by the hoopla surrounding a war between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson and a carousel of withdrawing headliners. Initially positioned to headline International Fight Week, Saturday's event landed with something of a thud despite a few watchable fights.

One of the main reasons the event sputtered was the late withdrawal of women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, herself only thrust into the spotlight when Cody Garbrandt bailed last month on a bout with TJ Dillashaw. Nunes pulled herself from a title defense only hours before she was to lock horns with Valentina Shevchenko as a result of sinusitis.

The decision was polarizing based on what fans, media and other fighters were saying once her pulling out was announced. Some felt she should have fought, while others felt she was within her rights to drop off the card at the last minute, but there was no person in the sport who wasn't voicing an opinion.

Regardless of where a person stands on the legitimacy of a champion pulling out hours before a fight, it afforded an opportunity to look back over the course of UFC history and consider some similar instances when big names were booked for big fights but never made it to the cage.

Nunes' actions weren't unprecedented entirely, but given the late notice of her withdrawal, it will go down as one of the more unique and shocking circumstances in which an athlete didn't make the walk.

Here are five other famous times when someone didn't show up for work as a result of pulling out.