Kenny Florian pulls out of Fight for the Troops 2; Melvin Guillard steps in as a replacement

Heavy.com reports that the two-time UFC Lightweight Title challenger Kenny “Kenflo” Florian had to pull out of his Fight for the Troops 2 Main Event bout against Evan Dunham, due to an injury. Twelve-fight UFC veteran Melvin Guillard was picked as a replacement, for a headliner of the card that will take place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texax on January 22nd.

Later on, Kenny Florian spoke the injury via his official website:

It is with deep regret that I will not be able to compete in my scheduled fight against Evan Dunham on January 22nd, due to a knee injury I sustained during training this morning. Although I have not had an MRI as of yet; the doctors are cautiously optimistic that it will not require surgery.

I want to express my sincere apologies to the fans, the UFC and Evan for not being able to compete at UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2. Since early September, I have been training for this fight. Evan is a great fighter and has undoubtedly been working very hard towards this fight as well. Plus, it is a big disappointment that I will not be able to fight in the octagon for the brave soldiers that fight for us.

I am determined to return to the octagon in the first half on 2011. Accordingly, I will keep you all updated.

Fight for the Troops 2 Fight Card

Main Card:

Evan Dunham v Melvin Guillard
Matt Mitrione v Tim Hague
Mark Hominick v George Roop
Pat Barry v Joey Beltran
Cole Miller v Matt Wiman

Preliminary Card:

Yves Edwards vs. TBD (was originally scheduled to fight Guillard)
Mike Swick vs. David Mitchell
DaMarques Johnson vs. Mike Guymon
Chan Sung Jung vs. Rani Yahya
Waylon Lowe vs. Williamy Freire
Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves