With just days ahead of the fight, British striker Jimi Manuwa has withdrawn from his UFC Fight Night 56 main event bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Taking his place is Strikeforce alumnus Ovince St. Preux. The news was announced by UFC President Dana White on Twitter:
Jimmy Manuwa broke his foot for his Nov 8th fight with Shogun. So now Ovince St Preux will fight… http://t.co/dIZCmantuH
— Dana White (@danawhite) October 29, 2014
The news was announced Wednesday night, just three days ahead of the event. It’s a surprising, inconvenient turn for the UFC, but the event will lose little in the way of star power for the hometown crowd.
Manuwa, who has amassed an impressive 3-1 record in the UFC, suffered a broken foot in training. Manuwa most recently faced Alexander Gustafsson in March, losing via second-round knockout. Rua was a favorable matchup for the Englishman, but he will likely return to the shelf for the remainder of 2014.
Rua, meanwhile, is coming off a devastating March loss as well, getting knocked out by Dan Henderson in a battle between Pride legends. Rua has been on a serious skid since losing his belt to current champion Jon Jones in 2012 but has remained a fixture atop non-pay-per-view cards. In spite of losing his opponent on a few days’ notice, he maintains his spot atop the card.
St. Preux was previously slated to face Francimar Barroso in the co-main event. A steady presence in Strikeforce, St. Preux earned a shot to crack the top 10 after a five-fight winning streak but fell short against Ryan Bader in August.
It is currently unclear what will happen with Barroso and what bout may be elevated into the co-main event spot.
UFC Fight Night 56 is slated to go down Saturday night on Fox Sports 1. Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
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