UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw became the latest fighter bit by the injury bug. He’s out of his planned UFC 186 title defense against Renan Barao.
Dillashaw suffered a rib fracture during training on Monday night and has been forced out of the bout. UFC president Dana White on Tuesday announced the news during an Tuesday interview on KRRL-FM 92.3 in Los Angeles.
The bout was set to be a rematch of their UFC 173 bout last May, where Dillashaw took the belt from Barao in an upset.
They were initially going to rematch at UFC 177 last September, but Barao suffered medical issues while cutting weight and had to withdraw at the last minute. Dillashaw instead successfully defended his belt against Joe Soto.
With Dillashaw having to withdraw from the UFC 186 fight card, it’s likely that the UFC would elevate Demetrious Johnson’s flyweight title defense against Kyogi Horiguchi to main event status.
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UFC officials, however, told MMAWeekly.com that, as of the time of publication, they were still in discussions about how to handle Dillashaw’s withdrawal and had not yet determined a final course of action. As such, there has also been no word on whether or not Barao would remain on the card.
UFC 186 is slated for April 25 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
