WSOF 7 headliner off after Mike Kyle sustains toe injury

A broken toe has forced Strikeforce and UFC vet Mike Kyle to withdraw from a light heavyweight bout with Anthony Johnson in the headliner of World Series of Fighting 7, the promotion announced today.

With little notice to find a replacement opponent for Johnson, WSOF has promoted Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer to the main event, according to a press release.

“I’m as disappointed as anyone that we’re forced to cancel this fight, but Mike just could not compete with his broken toe, and we simply could not find a suitable opponent for Anthony on such short notice,” WSOF President Ray Sefo stated in the release. “That said, we are fortunate that we still have a fantastic championship matchup between Georgi Karakhanyan and Lance Palmer that will now serve as our main event, and I think fans are still going to enjoy an incredible fight card.”

Kyle made his promotional debut in September at WSOF 5 and lost a decision to ex-UFC champ Andrei Arlovski, which put him on the road to redemption after knocking out Travis Wiuff at CFA 11. Johnson most recently fought in WSOF in March, when he earned a decision over Arlovski in a heavyweight bout.

It’s the second major change to WSOF 7's fight card, which takes place Dec. 7 at PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Karakhanyan was originally scheduled to meet Rick Glenn before an injury brought Palmer into the fold.

The event’s main card airs live on NBC Sports Network following prelims on MMAjunkie.com.

Now taking WSOF’s co-main event spot is a middleweight bout between Elvis Mutapcic Jesse Taylor that serves as the semifinal of an four-man tournament. A light heavyweight bout between Kalib Starnes and Dwayne Lewis has been bumped to the main card, as well.

Two preliminary changes were made, as well, as Richard Arsenault replaces Jordan Knippelberg in a welterweight matchup against Michael Hill, and lightweight Dan Ring replaces Jake MacDonald and faces Myles Merola.

WSOF 7 serves as the promotion’s first incursion into the Great White North after acquiring the Canada-based Aggression FC promotion.

The full World Series of Fighting 7 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD

• Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer – for inaugural WSOF featherweight title
• Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor – middleweight tournament semifinal
• Sabah Fadai vs. Nick Newell
• Dwayne Lewis vs. Kalib Starnes

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Shawn Albrecht vs. Josh Machan
• Richard Arsenault vs. Michael Hill
• Matt Baker vs. David Perron
• Ryan Chiappe vs. Marcus Vinicius
• Myles Merola vs. Dan Ring
• Micah Brakefield vs. Brendan Kornberger

For more on WSOF 7, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Mike Kyle)