One day after his second-scheduled opponent withdrew from competition, Diego Sanchez has now withdrawn from UFC 180 due to a knee injury. The UFC announced the news Thursday night, but Mexican outlet Indiscutido was the first to report the news.
Indiscutido reports Sanchez suffered a curciate ligament injury to his knee on Thursday during practice.
“Two days after UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his UFC 180 bout against Fabricio Werdum on November 15 due to injury, lightweight contenders Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez have suffered the same fate as Velasquez, as injuries to both have prompted the removal of their bout from the Mexico City event,” a UFC statement read.
According to that announcement, a bout between welterweights Edgar Garcia and Hector Urbina would be moved to the main card. UFC 180 will move forward with only 11 fights.
Sanchez was first set to face Norman Parke, but the Northern Irish lightweight withdrew from the bout due to injury in early October. Lauzon was set to take his place before being ruled out of the contest on Wednesday.
Sanchez is the fifth injury withdrawal from the fight card, following the removal of Erik Perez, Norman Parke, Cain Velasquez and Joe Lauzon.
UFC 180 will take place on November 15th at the Arena Cuidad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico. The event is headlined by an interim heavyweight title bout between Mark Hunt and Fabricio Werdum.