Yet another UFC main event has been altered due to injury, as FloCombat.com’s Jeremy Botter reports that Chris Weidman is out of his rematch with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in three weeks.
The UFC hasn’t made any official announcements as of yet, but they’re likely seeking a replacement to face Rockhold for his UFC Middleweight Championship with just under three weeks until the card. There’s also no word yet on the nature of the injury, nor on how long Weidman may be out of action.
Rockhold, the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, captured the UFC Title in December when he stopped Weidman in the fourth round at UFC 194. That moved his current winning streak to five, with him stopping each of those five opponents.
UFC 199 takes place from The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on June 4, and also features a Bantamweight Title rematch between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Penick’s Analysis: The obvious choice here is “Jacare” Souza, and if he can turn around after his win over Vitor Belfort and wants that fight, it’s the move to make. It arguably makes the card stronger despite it being a short notice main event shift, because Weidman getting an immediate rematch in the first place wasn’t necessarily the most interesting fight to make. The first bout was too one-sided, and though they did a solid job hyping it up anyway, there are other options that work here. Another idea could be Michael Bisping if he’s healthy enough to fight and willing to step in on short notice, but Souza’s the way to go if they can put that together. Either way, this is yet another significant injury issue for the UFC in 2016.
[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]
Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!
For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
Leave a Reply