Calgary’s UFC 149 event continues to takes hits, as Michael Bisping is the latest fighter to be pulled from the card.
The Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner, who was scheduled to fight Tim Boetsch, suffered an injury and will be replaced by former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who makes his UFC debut.
Lombard (31-2-1-1 NC) was set to meet Brian Stann in the main event of the UFC’s next FOX card, but after Stann withdrew due to injury the Cuban-Australian was left without an opponent. Once Bisping suffered his injury it left an opening for a middleweight and the former Olympic judoka stepped in.
Boetsch (15-4) has won seven of his last eight, is 3-0 at middleweight and is coming off a knockout win over former No. 1 contender Yushin Okami at UFC 144 in February.
UFC 149 has seen its fair share of injuries and withdrawals as Bisping is the latest of several big names to be forced off the card. Fighters like Thiago Alves, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Thiago Silva were all scheduled to be on the card at one point. Also, Mauricio (Shogun) Rua was pulled from the co-main event slot on Wednesday and will fight Brandon Vera in the main event of UFC on FOX 4 instead.
Alberta’s first UFC event will be headlined by a featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Erik Koch.
In other UFC news: Pablo Garza has pulled out of his 145-pound Aug. 4 bout with Josh Grispi and will be replaced by fellow WEC veteran Rani Yahya.
