Lightweight mixed martial artist Diego Sanchez has been pulled out of his UFC 180 fight due to a cruciate ligament injury he suffered in his knee during practice Thursday.
The injury is the latest road block in Sanchez's fight, which was re-scheduled twice, according to MMA Fighting. Fellow lightweight Joe Lauzon was originally set to replace Norman Parke, Sanchez's original opponent who pulled out due to an injury he suffered earlier this month, but Lauzon was ruled out of the bout on Wednesday.
"Two days after UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his UFC 180 bout against Fabricio Werdum on November 15 due to injury, lightweight contenders Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez have suffered the same fate as Velasquez, as injuries to both have prompted the removal of their bout from the Mexico City event," the UFC said in a statement.
As of Sanchez's withdrawal, UFC 180 has seen five fighters pull out of their bouts due to injury, the other four being Parke, Lauzon, Velasquez and Erik Perez.
Eight fights will be featured on the new card for the event, including Mark Hunt vs. Fabricio Werdum for the interim heavyweight title, Jake Ellenberger vs. Kelvin Gastelum, Dennis Bermudez vs. Ricardo Lamas, Edgar Garcia vs. Hector Urbina, Jessica Eye vs. Leslie Smith and Chris Heatherly vs. Augusto Montano, MMAjunkie reported. There will be two fights with fighters that have yet to be announced for the featherweight final and the bantamweight final of "The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America."
MMA fans can watch UFC 180 on pay-per-view on Nov. 15th. The event will be held in the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico.
