Robert Drysdale reportedly out of UFC 163 with staph infection

A staph infection reportedly will delay the UFC debut of Robert Drysdale, who’s been forced off next month’s UFC 163 card.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported the scratch. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) could not immediately confirm the change, and as of Tuesday morning, the bout is still listed on UFC.com.

Drysdale (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was slated to fight fellow light heavyweight Ednaldo Oliveira (13-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 163, which takes place Aug. 3 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Drysdale was slotted in the Facebook-streamed preliminary card, which precede additional prelims on FX and a pay-per-view main card.

It’s not clear if a replacement will be sought.

Drysdale, a world champion grappler who was born in the U.S. but spent much of his childhood in Brazil, made his official MMA debut in 2010. Recently, the black belt has competed for Legacy FC in Texas. All of six of his pro wins have come via first-round submission, including an April victory over Bellator vet D.J. Linderman.

The latest 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
• Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson
• John Lineker vs. Phil Harris

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

• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Anthony Perosh
• Sheila Gaff vs. Amanda Nunes
• Neil Magny vs. Sergio Moraes
• Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos

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

• Josh Clopton vs. Rani Yahya
• Ednaldo Oliveira vs. opponent TBA
• Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde

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

(Pictured: Robert Drysdale)