Just hours before she was to fight, Jessica Aguilar has been pulled from her bout against Jodie Esquibel at UFC Fight Night 131.

Team representatives for both Aguilar (19-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC) and Esquibel (6-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) confirmed the news to MMAjunkie following an initial report from ESPN Radio’s Jordan Sherwood on Twitter. UFC officials subsequently made a formal announcement of the fight’s cancellation, though no specific reason was given.

“Due to a medical issue involving strawweight athlete Jessica Aguilar, the New York State Athletic Commission has cancelled her scheduled bout against Jodie Esquibel,” the statement reads. “Tonight’s UFC FIGHT NIGHT: RIVERA VS. MORAES card will proceed with 12 bouts, beginning at 6:55 pm ET / 3:55 pm PT.”

According to MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani on Twitter, the New York State Athletic Commission asked for additional medical clearance on Thursday for Aguilar – and received it. But today, the commission reportedly decided to scrap the fight despite the thumbs up the day before.

Aguilar coach and cornerman Din Thomas said chapped lips was the culprit, confirming a report on Twitter from Helwani.

“(Thursday), the commission doctor saw her lips and thought it may have been some sort of infection,” Thomas told MMAjunkie via text. “They rushed her to a dermatologist as soon as she stepped off the scale. The dermatologist said nothing was wrong and cleared her to fight – gave her a doctor’s note and everything. Now today, the commission doctor saw her and told her she can’t fight.”

After tonight’s event began, Aguilar posted a statement on social media giving her side of the story and expressing her disappointment with the commission’s decision (via <a href="

Hey guys! Here’s a little update on the BS that went down today right before my fight. I am super disappointed and heartbroken, this is the second fight in a row canceled. I want to clear things up. The commission had a concern regarding my lips and my use of chapstick during the physical exam prior to weigh-ins so they requested that I be cleared by a dermatologist. So right after weigh-ins the commission rush me to get clearance which I was granted by the dermatologist. But tonight, at the arena, the commission struck again and canceled the fight. You can’t reason with this commission, it kinda felted personal. ‬I am hopeful the @UFC will rebook our fight ASAP.

UFC Fight Night 131 takes place tonight at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, N.Y. The event airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. Aguilar vs. Esquibel was set to close out the prelims on Fight Pass.

Former WSOF champion Aguilar, who’s No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, was a welcomed addition to the UFC roster in 2015, but she’s since struggled with injuries and losses. The 35-year-old Mexican vet saw her 10-fight winning streak snapped with UFC losses to Claudia Gadelha and Cortney Casey – both via decision.

Esquibel is a 31-year-old Invicta FC fighter who joined the UFC after a 4-2 run with the all-women’s promotion. Following her elimination-round loss to Ashley Yoder on “The Ultimate Fighter 23” in 2016, Esquibel made her promotional debut. She got a tough test and suffered a unanimous-decision loss to No. 5-ranked Karolina Kowalkiewicz this past October.

The UFC Fight Night 131 now includes:

MAIN CARD (FS1, 10 p.m. ET)

Jimmie Rivera vs. Marlon Moraes Gregor Gillespie vs. Vinc Pichel Walt Harris vs. Daniel Spitz Jake Ellenberger vs. Ben Saunders Julio Arce vs. Daniel Teymur Sam Alvey vs. Gian Villante

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)

Sijara Eubanks vs. Lauren Murphy Nik Lentz vs. David Teymur Belal Muhammad vs. Chance Rencountre Desmond Green vs. Gleison Tibau

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:55 p.m. ET)

Johnny Eduardo vs. Nathaniel Wood Jarred Brooks vs. Jose Torres

For more on UFC Fight Night 131, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.