Canadian welterweight Rory MacDonald (12-1) has suffered an undisclosed injury, forcing him out of his upcoming UFC 140 bout versus fellow countrymen Claude ‘The Prince’ Patrick (14-1).
Announced as MacDonald’s replacement by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and stepping in on a months notice, will be Australian based fighter ‘Bad Boy’ Brian Ebersole (48-14-1, 1NC).
UFC 140 is scheduled to take place on Dec. 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is headlined by a UFC light heavyweight title bout between champ Jon Jones versus former champ, Lyoto Machida. The bout between Patrick and Ebersole will likely take place on the main card or as part of a Spike TV telecast.
Ebersole was last in action in August as part of UFC 133, where he earned a first round TKO win over Dennis Hallman. ‘Bad Boy’ also earned a special bonus “for getting those horrifying shorts off TV as soon as possible” in reference to Hallman’s speedos he wore into the Octagon. That win was Ebersole’s ninth straight win since a loss to Hector Lombard back in 2008.
Patrick is riding a thirteen fight win streak that dates back to April 2005. ‘The Prince’ has made three Octagon appearances so far, earning wins over Daniel Roberts at UFC 129, James Wilks at UFC 120, and Ricardo Funch at UFC 115. The Canadian has earned three victories by (T)KO, nine by submission and 2 by decision over his career which began over nine years ago.