An injury to Josh Koscheck has forced him out of his scheduled UFC 163 date with Demian Maia, and the promotion has elected not to replace him, going forward with a 12-fight lineup for the Aug. 3 date.
The promotion made the announcement on Friday morning.
The fight had been scheduled as part of the evening’s main card.
No information was provided on Koscheck’s injury. The veteran would have been attempting to end a two-fight losing streak, as he dropped consecutive fights to Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler, respectively.
Koscheck is 17-7 overall.
Maia, on the other hand, has surged since moving down a division to welterweight. Since that time, he’s 3-0 with wins over Jon Fitch, Rick Story and Dong Hyun Kim. He’s 18-4 overall.
UFC 163 takes place on Aug. 3 at HSBC Arena in Rio. In the headliner, featherweight champion seeks his fifth UFC title defense against Chan Sung Jung, while Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis clash in the co-main event.