Dana White says The Ultimate Fighter 29 finalist, Tresean Gore -- the man many expected to win the show AND a UFC contract -- is OUT of the finale fight after suffering a knee injury.
The UFC prez broke the news while talking to TMZ Sports ... announcing 27-year-old Gore was recently injured, forcing him out of the scrap.
"Bryan Battle versus Tresean Gore. Nobody knows this yet, TMZ is breaking it. Tresean Gore is injured. It looks like his meniscus," White says.
Gore, a 3-0 fighter out of Georgia, arrived at the show unbeaten ... and has been super impressive ever since.
In fact, many thought Tresean was going to win the finale fight vs. Battle on August 28 at UFC Vegas 35 ... and the UFC deal that comes along with winning the show.
"I think a lot of people figured that this kid could win it. You know, obviously a great fight with him and Bryan Battle. Gore is out, probably gonna be out for 6 months. Now, Bryan Battle will be facing Gilbert Urbina."
FYI, 25-year-old, 6-1 Urbina lost to Tresean in the semifinals ... via a 2nd-round knockout.
Tresean Gore’s KO was nice. 🤌🏻 pic.twitter.com/SZiQXWGLp8
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) August 18, 2021
Bad news for Gore ... but there's a silver lining.
Dana says Tresean will "100%" get a shot on a future UFC card ... once his knee heals.
"Brutal for this poor kid, you know? But, what we’ll do is when Tresean Gore is healthy, does he fight Bryan Battle if Bryan wins the fighter? You know, I don’t know. We’ll see how this thing plays out. But, yeah, Gore is out."
Speaking of middleweights and TUF, we also talked to Dana about Kelvin Gastelum's fight with Jared Cannonier Saturday night at UFC Fight Night ... a matchup White predicts will be a "badass fight."