An ankle injury has forced Big Ben Rothwell out of a main-card fight at next week’s UFC on Fox 4 event, according to MMAjunkie.com. Thankfully, the injury is minor and should only keep the heavyweight star out of action for a few weeks.
Rothwell’s opponent, Travis Browne, is to remain on the card, as he will likely face off against Devin Cole, according to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com. However, the UFC has not made an official announcement regarding the replacement.
Cole is a veteran of Strikeforce, Shark Fights and the IFL. He is riding a two-fight winning streak at the shutdown of Strikeforce’s heavyweight division, and this will be his first appearance in the UFC.
Browne welcomed another Strikeforce import into the Octagon back at UFC 145 when he submitted Chad Griggs in the first round. The contest was Browne’s fifth in the UFC and boosted his professional record to 13-0-1.
Despite Rothwell coming off of a stellar knockout over Brendan Schaub, Browne was entering the fight as a 3:1 favorite according to bovada.lv.
There is no official word if Browne vs. Cole would remain on the main card.
UFC on Fox 4 takes place on Saturday, Aug. 4. The main event features former UFC champion Mauricio Rua in a light-heavyweight battle with Brandon Vera. With a solid co-main event of Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader, the event looks to be the best card that the UFC has put on Fox to date.
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