Injury knocks Anthony Njokuani out of UFC Fight Night 30 bout with Al Iaquinta

The MMA gods had apparently destined that Anthony Njokuani wasn’t going to fight Paul Taylor in England next month. Now Njokuani is out, himself.

Sources close to the fight on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com that the lightweight has been forced off UFC Fight Night 30 with an unspecified injury. Njokuani (16-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC) was set to meet replacement Al Iaquinta (6-2-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on the card after Taylor pulled out with an injury, then retired.

UFC officials have not yet announced Njokuani’s removal from the card, or if a replacement will be sought for Iaquinta.

UFC Fight Night 30 takes place Oct. 26 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The main card airs on FOX Sports 2.

Njokuani was looking to build on a good run of wins in two of his past three fights, including a knockout of Roger Bowling at UFC on FOX 7 in April. But he has bounced between wins and losses the past three years without being able to put together a win streak. Now he’ll be sidelined for an unspecified amount of time before he can look to get that streak going. The original planned matchup against Taylor was the third time the two had been booked to fight – with Taylor pulling out with injuries all three times.

Iaquinta is looking to build on the strength of his first UFC win, an August decision over Ryan Couture. Prior to that result, “The Ultimate Fighter 15? finalist’s lone official UFC appearance was a loss to show winner Michael Chiesa in the season’s live finale. He now awaits word on if he’ll get a new opponent to prepare for on a little more than four weeks’ notice.

With the change to the card, UFC Fight Night 30 now includes:

• Michael Bisping vs. Mark Munoz
• Melvin Guillard vs. Ross Pearson
• Ryan Jimmo vs. Jimi Manuwa
• Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck
• Magnus Cedenblad vs. Alessio Sakara
• Phil Harris vs. John Lineker
• Al Iaquinta vs. TBA
• Luke Barnatt vs. Andrew Craig
• Jessica Andrade vs. Rosi Sexton
• Cole Miller vs. Andy Ogle
• Jimy Hettes vs. Mike Wilkinson
• Michael Kuiper vs. Brad Scott

For more on UFC Fight Night 30, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Anthony Njokuani)