Less than one week ago UFC 114 lost one of its co-headliners when Forrest Griffin was forced out of his bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira due to a shoulder injury he sustained while training. The UFC wasted little time in naming Jason Brilz as his replacement, but unfortunately Brilz doesn’t carry the same weight as Griffin does when it comes to selling pay-per-views and tickets.
Now the UFC is forced to contend with another injury as Brazilian lightweight Thiago Tavares has suffered an elbow injury that will force him to skip his scheduled bout with Melvin Guillard. Although the bout was not part of the televised portion of the card the UFC was counting on an exciting bout between the two. According to MMA Junkie a replacement for Tavares is underway.
UC 114 is set to air live on pay-per-view on Saturday May 29. The main event will feature former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The two men served as opposing coaches on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter and were supposed to face off at UFC 107 in December before Rampage decided to take a role in the new A-Team Movie.
The stakes were already high as the two have been verbally trashing one another for months, but UFC President Dana White announced yesterday that the winner would go on to face the new UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his first title defense sometime later this year.
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Thiago Tavares Injured, Out Of UFC 114 Bout With Guillard