Injury forces Clay Guida out of UFC on FOX 7 bout with Chad Mendes

An injury has forced Clay Guida (30-13 MMA, 10-7 UFC) out of next month’s UFC on FOX 7 event and his preliminary-card bout with Chad Mendes (13-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed Guida’s withdrawal with a source close to the event, though the nature of his injury wasn’t disclosed. Sherdog.com first reported it.

UFC officials haven’t made a formal announcement or named a replacement.

UFC on FOX 7 takes place April 20 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FX and Facebook.

Mendes, who looks for a third straight win since a failed bid to take Jose Aldo’s featherweight title in early 2012, initially was slated to fight Manny Gamburyan this past month at UFC 157. However, when his opponent dropped off the card with an injury, Mendes instead was paired up with Guida.

The former title challenger most recently fought at UFC on FX 6, where he also faced a late replacement. Yaotzin Meza replaced Hacran Dias on less than a week’s notice and suffered a quick knockout loss to Mendes, who’s slated for UFC on FOX 7's featured prelim.

Guida, meanwhile, recently earned a narrow split-decision win over Hatsu Hioki, which ended a two-fight skid for the former lightweight contender.

The latest UFC on FOX 7 card includes:

• Champ Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez – for lightweight title
• Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir
• Nate Diaz vs. Josh Thomson
• Matt Brown vs. Dan Hardy
• Chad Mendes vs. TBA
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama
• Roger Bowling vs. Anthony Njokuani
• Jorge Masvidal vs. Tim Means
• Myles Jury vs. Ramsey Nijem
• Francisco Rivera vs. Hugo Viana
• Francis Carmont vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Clifford Starks vs. Yoel Romero
• Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck

For more on UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Clay Guida)