MANILA, Philippines – A major setback has hit the UFC 199 pay-per-view event on June 4 as Chris Weidman was forced to withdraw from his middleweight championship rematch against Luke Rockhold due to an undisclosed injury.
UFC officials are currently seeking a replacement to keep Rockhold on the aforementioned fight card, which takes place at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
The world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion is expected to make an announcement in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Rockhold is coming off a title-winning performance this past December, thwarting Weidman in the fourth round to walk away with the 185-pound weight class' top prize around his waist.
It was Weidman’s first taste of defeat after being unbeaten in his first 13 professional outings, which included two victories over longtime middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.
While no substitute opponent has been named, Rockhold stressed that he is willing to take on any challenger.
“I might lose my hair, but I will never lose my work ethic. No matter who, no matter when, no matter where. I'll be ready,” Rockhold wrote on Instagram.
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BFftMN_IaI3/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">I might lose my hair but I will never lose my work ethic. No matter who, no matter when, no matter where. I'll be ready. #ufc199</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Luke Rockhold (@lukerockhold) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-05-17T04:44:33+00:00">May 16, 2016 at 9:44pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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English fighter Michael Bisping was quick to offer his services to fill in for Weidman to face Rockhold.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Training camps separate the boys from the men. This sport isn't for everyone. 2 weeks notice? I'm down!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/ufc">@ufc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/realfighter?src=hash">#realfighter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fightersfighter?src=hash">#fightersfighter</a></p>— michael (@bisping) <a href="https://twitter.com/bisping/status/732681701168689152">May 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Another option for the UFC is Ronald “Jacare” Souza, who scored lopsided first-round stoppage victory versus Vitor Belfort over the weekend.
Rockhold is no stranger to both men as he outpointed Souza under the Strikeforce umbrella in September 2011, while he submitted Bisping with a second-round guillotine choke in November 2014.
If the UFC will not be able to secure a short-notice foe for Rockhold, the organization might promote the bantamweight title tilt between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber to main event. – Rappler.com