Ben Rothwell Injured, Out of UFC 203 Co-Main Event

Ben Rothwell has been forced out of his UFC 203 co-main event bout with former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum due to injury.

MMAWeekly.com sources confirmed that Rothwell is out due to a knee injury. MMAJunkie.com first reported the news, citing a team representative as saying that “Rothwell may have suffered a torn meniscus and could have an ACL injury.”

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UFC officials are currently exploring possible replacements to keep Werdum on the card, which takes place on Sept. 10 at Quickens Loan Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The main event features UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in his first title defense, putting his belt on the line against former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 champion Alistair Overeem.

Having won the interim championship in November of 2014 by defeating Mark Hunt, and then beating Cain Velasquez to unify the belts in June of 2015, Werdum lost the belt at UFC 198. Miocic knocked Werdum out with a single punch on May 14, ending the former champion’s six-fight winning streak.

Werdum, of course, is hoping to get right back into the thick of the title talk with a victory in his next fight.

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