Ryan Bader will have to wait for his next fight.
The UFC light heavyweight contender was slated to meet Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC Fight Night 68 on June 6 in New Orleans. But Cormier was pulled from that bout to face Anthony Johnson in the headliner of UFC 187 for the vacant light heavyweight belt. Bader is now off UFC Fight Night 68 altogether and a fight between Dan Henderson and Tim Boetsch will move up to headliner status.
The new co-main event will be a heavyweight fight between Matt Mitrione and Ben Rothwell. Louisiana native Dustin Poirier will also meet Yancy Medeiros on the card, which takes place at Smoothie King Center. It’s the UFC’s first trip back to New Orleans since 2011.
Bader (19-4) has won four straight and will remain in the mix at 205 pounds in the wake of the UFC suspending Jon Jones and stripping him of the belt following his felony arrest last week.
Henderson (30-13) has lost two straight, but is a legend of MMA and still extremely popular. He was finished by Gegard Mousasi via TKO in the first round back in January. In all, Henderson, 44, has lost five of his last six bouts. This is a big matchup with regards to how his career will finish out.
Boetsch (18-8) is coming off a submission loss to Thales Leites at UFC 184 in February. He has lost four of six bouts in total, but remains a tough out at middleweight at 34 years
Mitrione (9-3) is surging right now with three straight first-round knockouts. His fight against Rothwell (34-9), who is coming off a knockout of Alistair Overeem, is pivotal for the heavyweight division.