Rashad Evans at a pre-fight press conference for UFC 145 – Photo by Scott Cunningham for Getty Images
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed that a previously reported injury to UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao has forced the Brazilian out of his UFC 161 main event bout versus Eddie Wineland.
Promoted to the main event are light heavyweights ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans (17-3-1) and Dan Henderson (29-9) who were already set to meet in the nights co-main matchup.
UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson is expected to take place on June 15, 2013 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada marking the promotions first visit to the Canadian prairie city.
Evans has lost his last two matches, dropping a decision to Antônio Rogério Nogueira at UFC 156 and to division champ Jon Jones in April 2012 at UFC 145. ‘Suga’ earned his last victory back in January 2012 by earning a No. 1 contender spot by defeating Phil Davis by unanimous decision.
Henderson saw a four fight win streak end at the hands of former UFC champ Lyoto Machida last February at UFC 157 after losing by split decision to ‘The Dragon.’ Prior victories for the wrestler include wins over Mauricio Rua at UFC 139, Fedor Emelianenko, Rafael Cavalcante, and Renato Sobral.