Urijah Faber vs. Renan Barao moved to UFC 149 after injury to Jose Aldo
The UFC's game of musical chairs continues, as Jose Aldo's bout with Erik Koch for the main event of UFC 149 has been scrapped because of an injury to Aldo. Urijah Faber's bout with Renan Barao was moved to the main event at 149 from being the co-main event at UFC 148.
This is the second change to Faber's bout this summer. After coaching against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz on "The Ultimate Fighter," the two were slated to face off at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. Now, it's Faber vs. Barao for the interim belt at UFC 149 in Calgary.
It's also the latest in a string of main event changes to UFC events. This summer, the main event at UFC 146 was supposed to feature Alistair Overeem vs. Junior dos Santos, but Overeem's inability to get a license in Nevada gave Frank Mir a chance. UFC 147 was supposed to be at a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro for Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva's rematch. After the UFC couldn't get a venue, the bout was moved to UFC 148.
The bad luck continued for UFC 147 as main eventer Vitor Belfort was injured and Rich Franklin had to fill in. UFC on Fox 4 was also hit as Brian Stann's shoulder injury forced him out of the main event against Hector Lombard. Maurico "Shogun" Rua, who was free because of an injury to his UFC 149 opponent Thiago Silva, will now fight Brandon Vera in the main event of the UFC's fourth Fox show.
Even for a sport as dangerous as MMA, that's a crazy run of bad luck. Can the UFC do anything to prevent injuries? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
