Former number one welterweight contenders Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch are no longer fighting at UFC 107 after the "Pitbull" was forced to withdraw from the Dec. 12 event with a knee injury, according to MMA Fanhouse.
Fitch was taken off the UFC 106 pay-per-view and inserted into the Memphis show after Ricardo Almeida bowed out of the Nov. 21 event with knee problems of his own.
Like Fitch, Paulo Thiago was also scheduled to throwdown at the FedEx Forum until he was abandoned by Alves, who got the call to replace "Cachorrao" on short notice for the incoming Fitch.
Alves was hoping to avenge his 2006 loss to the Purdue wrestler prior to getting hurt.
From a logistical standpoint, filling the now-vacant slot with Fitch vs. (Paulo) Thiago makes perfect sense; however, they recently met at UFC 100 on July 11, a bout Fitch won in convincing fashion via unanimous decision.
A second fight is likely out of the question.
What plans the promotion has for either of these fighters remains to be seen (Thiago is rumored to be fighting Jacob Volkmann), but the positive side to this is that the 170-pound division is not short on talent.
UFC 107 will feature a main event between lightweight division champion, BJ Penn, defending his title against number one division contender, Diego Sanchez. In the co-featured fight of the night, former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir will "begin his quest for a third title" when he takes on Cheick Kongo.
Keep it locked in to MMAmania.com for more updates on a possible replacement for Alves. In the meantime, you can check out the latest UFC 107 fight card and rumors here.
***Update: MMAmania.com has been able to confirm that Alves will not compete at UFC 107 and that a request will be made to rebook the fight for late January or early February.
Get the latest gear
