For weeks, the conversation around Team USA for the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in France was less about certainty than possibility. Haiden Deegan, Justin Cooper and Levi Kitchen were one reported option. Then the picture shifted again, with Steve Matthes suggesting Kitchen, Garrett Marchbanks and Chance Hymas as another possible lineup. This morning, the most decisive update arrived: Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing announced it was withdrawing from this year’s MXoN.
That matters because it does more than trim a name from a rumor mill. It removes an entire factory program from the event in Ernée and, with it, one of the more interesting Team USA possibilities. Haiden Deegan had been part of the reported discussion, but with Star Yamaha stepping back, that path is gone. In a race where roster construction is always part performance, part logistics and part politics, the loss of a major team changes the equation immediately.
Why Yamaha stepped away
According to Yamaha Racing Manager Jim Roach, the decision came after “numerous discussions” between team principals and Yamaha management. The team said it made the “difficult decision” to step back from the 2026 MXoN competition, citing rider health, recovery and the demands of the season. Roach said the goal was to prioritize the health and safety of the riders and give the full team time to recover from the 2026 season.
The other part of the answer is practical. Roach also pointed to the logistical burden and the cost of shipping and converting bikes to FIM spec. That detail matters because it shows this was not simply a competitive choice. It was a resource decision, and one with ripple effects for Team USA planning, especially after reports that the Yamaha group had been seeking a hefty sum to send several bikes overseas.
What it means for Team USA
The withdrawal narrows the pool and removes a support structure that could have helped one of the more debated lineup possibilities. If Haiden Deegan was in the conversation before, he is no longer in it through Yamaha’s overseas program. Justin Cooper and Levi Kitchen were also part of the earlier reporting, while Matthes’ update pointed to Kitchen, Marchbanks and Hymas as another possible direction. The uncertainty is the point: the roster was already unsettled, and now one of the biggest factory options is out entirely.
That does not settle Team USA’s final three. It does, however, shift the conversation from talent alone to infrastructure. The 250 teams and 450 teams that would have been part of the Yamaha presence are no longer part of this specific MXoN equation, and that changes how the Americans can build for Ernée. In a competition shaped by bike conversion, travel and support as much as selection, those details are not background noise. They are part of the result before the gate ever drops.
There is also a broader message in Yamaha’s decision to stay focused on the upcoming 2027 SMX season. That line tells you the team is thinking beyond a single fall event and toward the longer arc of rider preparation, recovery and planning. For Haiden Deegan, it means the Team USA conversation must now move on without the possibility of a Star Yamaha-backed route into the MXoN. For everyone else involved, it means the roster puzzle gets a little more complicated, and a little more urgent, by the day.
