The year of the rematch has lost one of its best on-paper rematches. According to a report from MMAFighting, former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold has suffered a knee injury and is out of his November 26th main event against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The fight, which could very well have determined the next title challenger, is now on hold, and it’s unclear if Souza will be getting a replacement opponent. The November 26th card in question is the UFC’s debut at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, the same city that hosted the historic UFC 193 card last year.
The co-main event was set to be another middleweight bout with Robert Whitaker taking on Derek Brunson. With Whitaker being one of the promotion’s signature Australian stars, it’s not a giant step down if it’s promoted to main event, but it doesn’t have the direct title implications of Rockhold-Jacare. Rock hold and Souza had met once before, in Strikeforce, with Rockhold capturing the promotion’s middleweight title in that fight. While Rockhold took a unanimous decision, enough media scored the fight for Jacare (who, personally, also thought he won) that it’s become a somewhat debated result.
