UFC featherweight Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier (11-1) doesn’t appear to have any luck after a second opponent for UFC 143 was forced to pull out due to injury.
On Thursday, UFC officials announced that Ricardo ‘The Bully’ Lamas (11-2) was withdrawing from UFC 143 due to injury. Lamas was stepping in as a replacement for Erik Koch who injured himself recently.
This leaves Poirier waiting for a third opponent to be named for the February event.
UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit is scheduled to take place on February 4, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Poirier has won four straight including all three of his fights in the Octagon. The former WEC lightweight dropped to featherweight for his debut with the UFC this past January. So far, ‘The Diamond’ has earned wins over Josh Grispi at UFC 125, Jason Young and UFC 131, and most recently, against Pablo Garza at UFC on FOX 1 in November.
Lamas (pictured) has won two straight since he too debuted with the UFC as a featherweight fighter, making the move over from the WEC. ‘The Bully’ earned a submission win, including a “Submission of the Night” bonus in his last fight, using an arm-triangle choke to stop Cub Swanson at the first FOX event. Lamas also earned a first round TKO victory over Matt Grice at the UFC on Versus 4 show in June.