An undisclosed injury has forced Chris Weidman (pictured) out of his immediate rematch against current middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.
Multiple credible MMA outlets have confirmed Weidman’s withdrawal, though the UFC has yet to address the situation.
It is believed the UFC is currently scouring its roster to find Rockhold a new opponent for the June 4 event. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Michael Bisping are the early front-runner to land the gig.
Rockhold handed Weidman the first defeat of his professional career in December at UFC 194 to take the
middleweight crown.
No word on how long Weidman will be forced to ride the pine.
UFC 199 takes place inside the Forum in Inglewood, California. A trilogy between bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber is currently the show’s co-featured attraction, so the UFC could easily bump the 135-pounders to top billing if they’re unable to locate a replacement for Weidman.
Here is the card’s current lineup:
John Makdessi vs. Mehdi Baghdad
Tom Breese vs. Sean Strickland
“Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim vs. Polo Reyes
Luiz Henrique da Silva vs. Jonathan Wilson
Kevin Casey vs. Elvis Mutapcic
Jessica Andrade vs. Jessica Penne
Clay Guida vs. Brian Ortega
Evan Dunham vs. Leonardo Santos
Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green
Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas
Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard
BJ Penn vs. Cole Miller
Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz (UFC bantamweight champion)
Luke Rockhold (UFC middleweight champion) vs. TBD