Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua has been pulled from UFC 161 after he was left without an opponent, the UFC announced Monday.
Shogun was removed from the event because his original opponent, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, was forced to pull out of the bout with an injury.
According to reports out of Brazil earlier in the day Monday, former No. 1 middlewieght contender Chael Sonnen was set to step up and fight Shogun, however the UFC never officially confirmed the matchup and that matchup never came to fruition.
The first UFC event in Winnipeg, which takes place at the MTS Centre June 15, will go on with 11 fights and Rua is expected to appear on an upcoming event in the near future.
With Lil Nog injured, @shogunrua is left opponentless 2 weeks out; #ufc161 will proceed with 11 fights and Shogun will fight on a card soon
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2013
Rua (21-7) has alternated wins and losses in his last eight bouts and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Gustafsson last December.
His bout with Nogueira was a highly anticipated rematch of a 2005 fight when the two competed for the now-defunct Pride Fighting Championships.
Shogun is the third prominent Brazilian star to be removed from UFC 161 in the last month.
In addition to Rua vs. Nogueira, UFC 161 was originally scheduled to be headlined by an interim bantamweight championship bout between Renan Barao and former WEC champ Eddie Wineland, but a foot injury to Barao during training resulted in the fight being removed.
Other fighters, including TJ Waldburger and Isaac Vallie-Flagg, have also had to pull out of the event with injuries.
A light-heavyweight bout between former UFC champ Rashad Evans and former Strikeforece and Pride champ Dan Henderson is the main event for the promotion’s first trip to Manitoba.
Here is a look at the 11 fights scheduled for UFC 161:
— Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson (three-round main event)
— Roy Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic
— Alexis Davis vs. Rosi Sexton
— Pat Barry vs. Shawn Jordan
— Jake Shields vs. Tyron Woodley
— Sam Stout vs. James Krause
— Ryan Jimmo vs. Igor Pokrajac
— Sean Pierson vs. Kenny Robertson
— Roland Delorme vs. Edwin Figueroa
— Mitch Clarke vs. John Maguire
— Yves Jabouin vs. Dustin Pague
