On the heels of the unfortunate news that UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was forced out of his February 28 title defense against Vitor Belfort at UFC 184, the injury bug struck yet again.
This time it was Weidman’s training partner, Stephen Thompson, who was forced out of his UFC Fight Night 60 main event with Brandon Thatch. Ariel Helwani broke the news on the UFC 183 Weigh-In show on Fox Sports 1.
“Wonderboy” Thompson, like Weidman, suffered a rib injury in training. He was slated to face Brandon Thatch on Feb. 14 in Broomfield, Colorado. At this time, the UFC is still searching for an opponent to stand in against Thatch on short notice.
Thompson-Thatch was already a replacement main event for the card. Originally, the UFC had set a welterweight clash between Matt Brown and Tarec Saffiedine in the main event, but that fight was scratched on New Year’s Day when Saffiedine injured himself in training (groin). Brown is now scheduled to take on former 170-pond champ Johny Hendricks at UFC 185 in March.
The remaining fights on the main card for UFC Fight Night 60 include a featherweight bout between Max Holloway and Cole Miller, a welterweight fight between Neil Magny and Kiichi Kunimoto, a middleweight clash between Dan Kelly and Patrick Walsh, a lightweight bout between Michel Prazeres and Kevin Lee, and a flyweight scrap between Ray Borg and Chris Kelades.