The upcoming WEC 50: "Cruz vs. Benavidez" fight card took a major hit today after Urijah Faber was forced to pull out of his bantamweight debut against the venerable Takeya Mizugaki on Aug. 18 from "The Pearl" at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"The California Kid" broke the unfortunate news of a knee injury via his official Twitter account.

Faber was recently pushed out of the 145-pound weight class by reigning division champion Jose Aldo. Aside from a Jens Pulver submission win, the former featherweight champion dropped consecutive fights to his temporary successor, Mike Brown, first at WEC 36 and then again at WEC 41.

His frame may be better served at 135-pounds, but it doesn't sound like he'll get there until later this year.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for updates to the WEC 50 line-up as there is no official word yet on a possible replacement for Faber or if Mizugaki will get pulled from the event.