The flyweight title fight planned for the Ultimate Fighter 17 finale has been scrapped after champion Demetrious Johnson suffered an injury in training forcing him out of his scheduled bout on April 13.
UFC officials announced the change via UFC Tonight on Tuesday.
Johnson’s injury is expected to keep him on the sidelines for the next couple of months, obviously putting him out of his bout against top rated contender John Moraga.
Moraga has also been pulled from the card, and it’s unclear at this time if he will wait to take another fight while Johnson recovers, or if he will sit and wait to face the champion when he’s healthy enough to return.
The fight in April would have been Johnson’s second fight in 2013 after he defeated former Ultimate Fighter winner John Dodson in the main event of UFC on Fox 6 in late January. It was the first defense of Johnson’s newly created flyweight title that he won last year at UFC 152. In that contest he beat Joseph Benavidez in the inaugural championship bout for the 125-pound weight class.
Johnson has always remained a very active fighter, but this injury will sideline him now until a likely summer date when he can return healthy and defend his title again.
The UFC has yet to name a new main event for the Ultimate Fighter season 17 finale show, although it’s possible the bantamweight women’s fight between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano could take the slot alongside the middleweight tournament finals between the competitors on the reality show.
The Johnson vs. Moraga fight was actually the first time ever that the UFC has scheduled a title fight for an Ultimate Fighter finale, but now the plan will fall by the wayside as they wait for their champion to get healthy and fight again.
Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report
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