Chad Mendes‘ slow crawl back to featherweight title contention has hit another speed bump.
The former 145-pound title challenger announced via Twitter that he’s been forced off of the UFC 157 fight card following injuries suffered by scheduled opponent Manny Gamburyan.
Well guys it looks like I’m off the Anaheim card. Sucks pretty bad. Ill keep everyone updated with what I find out. Sorry.
— chad mendes (@chadmendes) February 10, 2013
— chad mendes (@chadmendes) February 10, 2013
Gamburyan was apologetic for his withdrawal from the bout, but no one can fault him for pulling out of the fight due to the multiple setbacks he suffered in training for Mendes.
I personally want to apologize to @danawhite @ufc @chadmendes and my dans.For my Injury there is nothing I can do it really sucks sorry 🙁
— Manny Gamburyan (@MannyGamburyan) February 10, 2013
— Manny Gamburyan (@MannyGamburyan) February 10, 2013
There was a brief search for a featherweight that could replace Gamburyan, but that search has apparently failed, leaving Mendes without an opponent for an event that is now only 13 days away.
Since losing to 145-pound champion Jose Aldo, Mendes has defeated Cody McKenzie and Yaotzin Meza, two opponents who clearly weren’t ready to fight an elite featherweight.
Mendes is still widely considered an elite featherweight, but he’s gone a significant amount of time without picking up a win over a fellow contender. Hopefully, the UFC can re-book quickly for a fight with a worthy opponent.
Following Mendes‘ removal from the event, this is how the UFC 157 fight card now stands:
Pay-Per-View Main Card
Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche
Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson
Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar
Josh Koscheck vs. Robbie Lawler
FX Preliminary Card
Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson
Michael Chiesa vs. Anton Kuivanen
Court McGee vs. Josh Neer
Sam Stout vs. Caros Fodor
Facebook Preliminary Card
Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice
Kenny Robertson vs. Brock Jardine
Jon Manley vs. Neil Magny
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