Nogueira out of UFC 108 due to staph infection.

SuperWoody101

The UFC’s injury woes continue, and another main event has been scrapped.

A planned UFC 108 bout between heavyweight contenders Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Cain Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has been called off due to a severe staph infection currently affecting “Big Nog.”

UFC president Dana White revealed the news following Saturday’s UFC 105 post-event press conference to a small group of reporters.

“[Nogueira] got staph infection, bad, to the point now it’s in his bloodstream, and he’s probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics,” White said.

UFC 108, previously titled “Nogueira vs. Velasquez,” is scheduled for Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

White said the recent string of bad luck for the company, which has included injuries to several of the UFC’s most prominent fighters, is the worst he’s seen in his time at the helm of the promotion.

“It’s crazy,” White said. “In nine years of being in this business, we haven’t had this many injuries in one (full) year.”

Despite the setback, White said his company would deliver a solid event come January.

“This is my business; this is what we do,” White said. “My job is to put on fights, and we’ll get some fights for Jan. 2.”

White told MMAjunkie.com he is uncertain if Velasquez will remain on the card. With Brock Lesnar on the shelf indefinitely, Shane Carwin would seem to be a natural option. Unfortunately, White said Carwin just underwent knee surgery and would be unavailable for the event.

Credit: MMAJunkie.com (http://mmajunkie.com/news/16855/nogueira-has-sever-staph-infection-ufc-108-bout-with-velasquez-off.mma)

flahavaj

UFC having rotten luck with injuries, especially in the heavyweight division.

callaway92

i wasn't particularly interested in this fight anyways.

scudzilla

Dana's not having a good time.

If i were him i'd really look at reducing the amount of events, we're on nerly 2 a month now, even dropping it down to 3 every 2 months would make a difference, better cards, more chance for fighters to recover etc.

callaway92

scudzilla wrote: »

Dana's not having a good time.

If i were him i'd really look at reducing the amount of events, we're on nerly 2 a month now, even dropping it down to 3 every 2 months would make a difference, better cards, more chance for fighters to recover etc.

I believe there is some serious talk that they will be combing UFC and WEC events in the near future with an event every 3 weeks or so, but i'm not 100% sure.

It's just an unlucky period for injuries at the mo...

ginoginelli

this is crazy. I wonder if they could push forward the gsp/hardy fight for january?

scudzilla

ginoginelli wrote: »

this is crazy. I wonder if they could push forward the gsp/hardy fight for january?

Not really, i think GSP is just coming off an injury, also i think this fight is lined up for the UK and they don't have one planned till the second quarter of 2010, so April at the earliest, unless of course they put it on here in March

D2D

New Main event for UFC 108 due to Nogueira's injury:

Link contains spoilers: http://twitter.com/UFC/status/5766328189

The-Game

Something strange there as Nog had serious staph fighting Mir and thats what had him in a bad way, now he has the same condition again?? Suggests that he trains with dirty mats that don't get cleaned right.

Unfortunate though as he looked great against Randy.


The HW division is in trouble though with the top 3 guys all out now (Brock/Carwin/Nog). Velasquez is a possibility for an interim shot against maybe the winner of Mir Vs Kongo?? Depending on how long Brock and Carwin are going to be down.

(Incase anyone doesnt know Carwin had some surgery on his knee and wont be ready for a while)