UFC 184 took a huge hit today when UFC middleweight champion pulled out of his main event title defense against Vitor Belfort.
MMAJunkie.com were the first to break the news:
MMAjunkie has learned from several sources close to the promotion that Weidman has suffered an injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from the contest. The sources all spoke on the condition of anonymity because none of them were authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
An announcement from the organization is expected shortly.
The UFC hasn’t disclosed the severity of the injury but an injury this close to the fight most be serious for Weidman to withdraw. Unfortunately, Weidman seems to be injury prone and we may look back at him as one of the “What if?” champions in UFC history. His body seems to be breaking down in front of his eyes and it’s only a matter of time before it effects his in cage performance.
Ronda Rousey was already scheduled to be the co-main event for UFC 184 but now her title match against Cat Zingano becomes the marquee match up.
It’ll be interesting to see if the UFC will add another fight to the card on short notice or if they will stay with 9 fights. I’m sure Dana White is glad to have Ronda Rousey to save these cards.