Josh Koscheck injured, out of UFC 163 fight with Demian Maia in Rio

Josh Koscheck has been injured and forced out of his UFC 163 welterweight fight against Demian Maia next month.

UFC officials on Friday announced the news. Details of the precise nature of Koscheck’s injury were not revealed. The card now will go on with 12 scheduled fights instead of 13.

Koscheck (17-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) and Maia (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) were scheduled to meet as part of the main card of the event, which takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 3. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook. UFC officials have not yet revealed which preliminary card fight will take the place of Koscheck-Maia on the pay-per-view broadcast, though it is likely a featured prelim between Brazilian Vinny Magalhaes and Anthony Perosh will be elevated to the main card.

Koscheck has dropped two straight fights, including a decision to current No. 1 welterweight contender Johny Hendricks and, most recently, a first-round TKO to Robbie Lawler. Prior to that, he had won back-to-back bouts over Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce after losing a title fight to champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124.

Maia was looking for his fourth consecutive win and potentially the next shot at the welterweight title. Since dropping from 185 to 170 pounds, the submission specialist has won bouts against Dong Hyun Kim, Rick Story and Jon Fitch.

It is not yet known if the fight will be shifted to a different date and location, or if new opponents will be found for each.

The final UFC 163 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Jose Aldo vs. Chan Sung Jung – for featherweight title
• Phil Davis vs. Lyoto Machida
• Cezar Ferreira vs. Clint Hester
• John Lineker vs. Phil Harris
• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Anthony Perosh

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Sheila Gaff vs. Amanda Nunes
• Neil Magny vs. Sergio Moraes
• Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson
• Josh Clopton vs. Rani Yahya

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos
• Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde
• Robert Drysdale vs. Ednaldo Oliveira

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Josh Koscheck)