Rogerio Nogueira Injured, UFC 161 Scrap With Shogun Rua Cancelled

UFC 161 was set to play host to a rematch of a classic Pride FC fight, until Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was confirmed as injured and unable to fight. The news is terrible for all MMA fans, especially the hardcore. The news was confirmed by Globo:

“On his 37th birthday, the light-heavyweight Brazilian Rogerio Nogueira had to deal with an unpleasant situation: he will be forced to give up his rematch against Mauricio Rua at UFC 161 on June 15 in Winnipeg, Canada. A back problem again bothered the fighter.”

“Nogueira had been preparing well for the fight, but felt back pain because of a herniated disc in training last Monday. The problem is not serious, but it was enough to get him out of the fight, due to the proximity of it.”

UFC officials also confirmed that they are seeking a replacement for the injured Nogueira, the big risk is that they will not be able to find anyone on such short notice. It seems that the 2012 injury curse has now spread in to 2013. Via Ariel Helwani‘s Twitter:

UFC has confirmed to me that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is in fact out of UFC 161. They are searching for a replacement to fight Shogun.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 2, 2013

UFC 161 was originally set to be headlined by Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland, but Barao was also injured and Evans vs. Henderson was bumped up to the main event. Now with Nogueira injured, Shogun is left without an opponent as of now. Seriously bad news.

Stay tuned to Lowkick for updates as they come in!