Francisco Rivera Out of UFC 170 with Broken Hand; Raphael Assuncao Awaits New Opponent

UFC bantamweight Francisco Rivera is out of his scheduled UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann bout against Raphael Assuncao due to a broken hand suffered in training.

Both fighters broke the news via Twitter on Monday.

Sorry guys busted my hand again .. Won’t be fighting @ufc 170

— FranCisco Rivera (@CiscoRiveraUFC) February 3, 2014

Hi guys, so..My supposed opponent Francisco Rivera broke his hand and is outta the fight #UFC170 . Who would ya’ll like me fight against ??

— Raphael Assuncao (@RaphaAssuncao) February 3, 2014

The fight would have had major implications in the bantamweight title picture.

Rivera (10-2, 1NC) is riding a two-fight winning streak with finishes of Edwin Figueroa and George Roop in his last two outings. He would have been on a five-fight winning streak but his knockout win over Ronald Delorme at UFC 149 was overturned after Rivera tested positive to a banned substance.

Assuncao (21-4) is on a five-fight winning streak. He defeated T.J. Dillashaw by split decision in his last outing in October 2013 at UFC Fight Night 29.

At the time of publication, it was unclear whether Assuncao would get a replacement or be removed from the fight card altogether.

UFC 170 takes place on Feb. 22 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The fight card is headlined by a bout between Olympic medalists. Women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey puts her title on the line against Sara McMann. The card also features the light heavyweight debut of Daniel Cormier, another Olympian, who faces former titleholder Rashad Evans in the co-main event.