Both Lewis Phillips and Steve Matthes are reporting that Haiden Deegan has pulled out of the MXoN meaning back-up Justin Cooper will take over the MX2 seat.
It means of the biggest stars of sport will not be on the gate as Deegan joins Sexton on the sidelines with Eli Tomac now having RJ Hampshire and Justin Cooper as teammates to try and win the MXoN at home for the USA.
I can confirm Lew’s tweet. He’s out https://t.co/TmBY9APIGm
— Steve Matthes (@pulpmx) September 30, 2025
Racer X Online have now said on Instagram the pain was too much for Deegan: “Haiden Deegan gave it a shot, but out for MXoN After a week of physical therapy following surgery to fix the collarbone he broke last Saturday, Haiden Deegan went to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing today to log motos and test the feeling before this weekend’s Monster Energy Motocross of Nations.
“Unfortunately, he has realized that while he is able to log laps, pushing to a sprint pace still causes a significant amount of pain. Haiden might be able to race, but would he be able to push fast enough to actually help Team USA win? That seems unlikely. Considering that, the team has asked Haiden to sidestep the risk of racing, and now backup rider Justin Cooper will swap in for Haiden for Team USA on the YZ250F.”
Deegan had said on his YouTube video: “I mean, I broke my collarbone and had surgery on it because I want to race in my country. Like, last year, it was literally, I couldn’t race because it was in jeopardy of my career. No one knows how bad, you know, the scaphoid injury is. I’m pretty sure it’s the only bone in your body that has backwards blood flow, and that could be a major problem if you don’t figure that out correctly, so that was my most important was to go get that wrist right.“
