UFC on Fox 8 has lost one of its preliminary card bouts. The heavyweight scrap between Matt Mitrione and Brendan Schaub has been reportedly removed from the July 27 event.
A training camp injury suffered by Mitrione necessitated his removal from the fight card, according to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com. The website also reported that the fight would be rebooked on a future card and that Schaub would not get a replacement opponent.
Mitrione (6-2) and Schaub (9-3) both halted two-fight losing streaks in their last outings. Mitrione had dropped a decision to Cheick Kongo and been knocked out by Roy Nelson before earning a quick knockout over Phil De Fries in his most recent bout. Schaub had two first-round KO losses to his name before rebounding with a unanimous-decision win over Lavar Johnson in his last fight.
The two fighters had been friendly, according to Schaub. Speaking to Rick J Lee, he said, “I love Matt, he knows this. I wish I could fight any other heavyweight, but you just can’t. One thing I can guarantee you is that Matt and I will put on a show.”
That friendship seemed to fade a bit when the two got in a Twitter war, which ended with Mitrione pretty much washing his hands of the friendship.
UFC on Fox 8 will take place on July 27 from the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington and will be headlined by a title fight between UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga. The co-main event will be a welterweight scrap between highly ranked Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger.
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