Chris Weidman (left) has been forced out of his UFC 155 bout due to an undisclosed injury.
UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman has suffered an injury that forced him out of his UFC 155 bout with Tim Boetsch, according to a report from Newsday.com.
Costa Philippou, a teammate of Weidman’s, will step in to face Boetsch on the Dec. 29 Pay-Per-View. This comes after Philippou’s fight with Nick Ring at UFC 154 was canceled when Ring fell ill in the hours before the fight.
Weidman’s injury was not disclosed, according to the report. UFC officials were not available for comment at the time of this publication.
Boetsch is coming off a win the over highly-touted Hector Lombard at UFC 149 last July. In the bout, Boetsch peppered the debuting Lombard with strikes as his opponent patiently measured to find the right moment to land a heavy-handed knockout blow. Throughout the match-up, Boetsch landed enough strikes to have two of the three judges see the contest in his favor for the split decision.
Philippou is on a four-fight win streak since losing his UFC debut in March 2011. During the streak, Philippou earned decisions over Riki Fukuda, Court McGee and Jorge Rivera. His most impressive win, however, was his first-round knockout of Jared Hammen at UFC 140 last December.
UFC 155 will take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
