An undisclosed injury to UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald (14-1) has forced the rising 170-lbs fighter out of his scheduled rematch with Carlos Condit (28-6).
The two were scheduled to meet in the co-main event of UFC 158, expected to take place next month on March 16 at the Bell Centre in Montrea, Quebec.
News of MacDonald’s injury was announced by MMAFighting.com late this afternoon after confirming the update from multiple sources.
The UFC has yet to officially announce a replacement for MacDonald but with four other welterweight matches, excluding the 170-lbs title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz, the promotion has several viable options for Condit.
Update: Officials named main card fighter Johny Henricks (14-1) as McDonald’s replacement (@UFC), while ‘Bigg Rigg’s’ original opponent Jake Ellenberger is to get a new foe for UFC 158.
– Fact. RT @NeilMDavidson Injured Rory MacDonald out of #ufc158. Condit now fights Hendricks. Ellenberger to get new opponent.
Condit handed the young Canadian fighter the only loss of his career when the two met back in June 2010 at UFC 115. The two battled into the third round with some believing MacDonald was well on his way to winning a decision victory but was caught in the final seconds, losing by TKO at 4:53.
Since that defeat MacDonald has put together four straight victories with his most recent win coming over BJ Penn last December at the UFC on FOX 5 event. The other wins were against fighters Che Mills, Mike Pyle, and Nate Diaz.
Henricks has been screaming for a shot at St-Pierre and the UFC title, with a victory against Condit officials will have to grant him the next shot at 170-lbs.
‘Bigg Rigg’ is riding a five fight win streak and is coming off a 46-second knockout of Martin Kampmann at UFC 154 in Montreal. Hendricks earned the “Knockout of the Night” bonus, the third such bonus in that five fight stretch.