Tony Ferguson injury scraps UFC on FOX 19 main event vs. Nurmagomedov; Evans-Teixeira headlines

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson

An injury has scrapped another UFC main event less than two weeks before the fight.

Tony Ferguson (20-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC) is out of his UFC on FOX 19 lightweight headliner against Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) next week in Florida. UFC officials today confirmed the injury to MMAjunkie following an initial report from FOX Sports.

With Ferguson out, the previously booked co-main event light heavyweight bout between former champion Rashad Evans (19-4-1 MMA, 14-4-1 UFC) and former title challenger Glover Teixeira (24-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will move into the main event. The fight will be a five-round bout.

It is not yet known if Nurmagomedov will remain on the card against a short-notice opponent, or if he’ll be moved to a future event. After being previously set, a new bout order is being finalized.

UFC on FOX 19 takes place April 16 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The main card is set to air on FOX following prelims on FOX and UFC Fight Pass.

Nurmagomedov, the No. 2 fighter in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, was set to return from a two-year layoff to take on No. 3 Ferguson. The fight was expected to determine the next title challenger at 155 pounds.

Nurmagomedov has not competed since he earned a unanimous decision win over current UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 11 in April 2014. “The Eagle” has experienced several injuries since then that have prevented him from making several bouts, including a previously scheduled December showdown with Ferguson, who was set to bring a divisional-best seven-fight winning streak into his first UFC main event.

UFC on FOX 19 now includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira
• Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. TBA
• Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida
• Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX, 6 p.m. ET)

• Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush
• Hacran Dias vs. Cub Swanson
• John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan
• Court McGee vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)

• Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington
• Randy Brown vs. Michael Graves
• Cezar Ferreira vs. Caio Magalhaes
• Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev
• Omari Akhmedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

For more on UFC on FOX 19, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.