Report: Injury knocks Stefan Struve from UFC Fight Night 105 headliner vs. Junior Dos Santos in Halifax

Stefan Struve has suffered a shoulder injury and is out of a headlining rematch against former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, according to a report.

Brazilian MMA outlet Combate today reported Struve (28-8 MMA, 12-6 UFC) has had to withdraw from his UFC Fight Night 105 main event opposite Dos Santos (18-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC), which puts the UFC on the hunt for a replacement to headline the card.

UFC Fight Night 105 takes place Feb. 19, a Sunday, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and airs live on FS1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Junior Dos Santos

MMAjunkie was not immediately able to confirm Dos Santos’ withdrawal through the UFC, and the promotion has not made a formal announcement of the injury.

Struve is an honorable mention in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings; Dos Santos is No. 4.

The matchup was set to be a reboot from Dos Santos’ early days in the UFC. The two met eight years ago at UFC 95 in what was Struve’s UFC debut. Dos Santos stopped him in just 54 seconds.

Struve would have been bringing a two-fight winning streak into the meeting with a submission of Daniel Omielanczuk this past October at UFC 204 and a 16-second bonus-winning knockout of Antonio Silva this past May.

Dos Santos recently told MMAjunkie he thought he’d earned another shot at the UFC title after defeating the resurgent Ben Rothwell this past April, and he hoped that circumstances in the heavyweight would connect him to champ Stipe Miocic, whom he beat two years ago by decision.

“So it’s not that I wanted to fight Miocic, I was deserving of it,” Dos Santos said. “(Cain) Velasquez and (Fabricio) Werdum both come off wins over Travis Browne, who wasn’t close to fighting for the belt. So, given all these factors, I think I deserved it. But unfortunately it couldn’t happen now. I know it will happen and it won’t be too long before it does. My goal right now is to perform well.”

It remains to be seen whom the Brazilian might be matched up with now if he remains on the card, or if he’ll have to wait for another event to get back to work.

With the change, UFC Fight Night 105 now includes:

• Junior Dos Santos vs. TBA
• Cezar Ferreira vs. Elias Theodorou
• Jack Marshman vs. Thiago “Marreta” Santos
• Alvaro Herrera vs. Alessandro Ricci
• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Nordine Taleb
• Reginaldo Vieira vs. Aiemann Zahabi
• Carla Esparza vs. Randa Markos

For more on UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.