https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAygPWSAffQ
It looks like next week’s UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Duffy card in Dublin, Ireland needs a new co-main event. According to MMAJunkie, Stipe Miocic has suffered an unnamed minor injury, taking him out of his fight with Ben Rothwell. The UFC is looking for a replacement, though their prospects are most likely limited to European fighters in terms of securing proper working papers in time. Rothwell reacted to the news on Twitter:
… @stipemiocicufc for real?
— Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) October 13, 2015
Miicic’s manager, Greg Kalikas, told MMAJunkie that the fighter’s injury is “not serious, just bad timing.” The Croatian-American heavyweight hopes to be able to get a fight in before the end of 2015. The rising young heavyweight had been on his way up for a while before cementing himself as one of the elite fighters in the division with a razor clin decision loss to Junior Dos Santos last December. He rebounded with an almost disturbingly (thanks to the referee) dominant decision win over Mark Hunt, who had been in the mix just below the level of the division’s elite.
The fight was one of many this Fall that was set to help determine how the heavyweight division would fall into place and line up a new contender. With Rothwell likely getting a regional level opponent if he still fights, he doesn’t have a shot at the big win he needs. UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Duffy will air live on UFC Fight Pass.
