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The rematch between Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman has fallen apart once again.
Rockhold (16-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who was scheduled to rematch fellow ex-champ Weidman (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in next month’s UFC 230 co-headliner, has been forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. MMAjunkie verified the news with a person close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN.com. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
I’m told @LukeRockhold has been dealing with multiple injuries, eventually adding up and forcing him off card. Hoping to be out no more than 3-4 weeks, but will first consult with doctors to determine severity of the issues. https://t.co/KbIhOWZbUd
— John Morgan (@MMAjunkieJohn) October 19, 2018
UFC 230 takes place Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pbad.
The injury to Rockhold, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, marks the second time a rematch with No. 5-ranked Weidman has been called off. After taking the belt from Weidman with a third-round TKO at UFC 194 in December 2016, the pair was scheduled to run it back at UFC 199 in June 2016. Weidman was forced to withdraw due to injury, and Rockhold went on to drop the belt to late replacement Michael Bisping.
ESPN.com reported Rockhold injured his leg, but a potential timeline for his return is unknown. The UFC is reportedly searching for a replacement to fight Weidman on the card, with Ronaldo Souza being among the names mentioned.
In addition to Rockhold’s withdrawal, Newsday.com reported another pair of updates to the UFC 230 lineup. Ben Saunders (22-10-2 MMA, 8-7 UFC) will replace Sultan Aliev against Lyman Good (19-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout on the preliminary portion of the card, and a heavyweight pairing between Ruslan Magomedov (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Marcos Rogerio de Lima (15-5-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has also been scheduled.
The latest UFC 230 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis – for heavyweight title
- Chris Weidman vs. TBA
- David Branch vs. Ronaldo Souza
- Jack Marshman vs. Karl Roberson
- Israel Adesanya vs. Derek Brunson
PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)
- Jason Knight vs. Jordan Rinaldi
- Sijara Eubanks vs. Roxanne Modafferi
- Julio Arce vs. Sheymon Moraes
- Lyman Good vs. Ben Saunders
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pbad, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata
- Shane Burgos vs. Kurt Holobaugh
- Montel Jackson vs. Brian Kelleher
- Ruslan Magomedov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
For the latest on UFC 230, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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