Anthony Johnson had been expected to welcome Nate Marquardt to the UFC's welterweight division, but an injury has forced him out of the June 26th bout. Rick Story will step up and take his place in the headliner for UFC on Versus 4.
Story is coming off a big upset win over Thiago Alves at UFC 130 last Saturday. Marquardt, a long-time contender in the UFC's middleweight division, is cutting down to 170lbs after a decision win over Dan Miller at UFC 128.
No word on the nature of Johnson's injury. Johnson has twice been forced to pull out of UFC bouts with knee injuries. He pulled out of a bout with Matt Brown that had been scheduled for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale in 2009 and out of a bout with John Howard that had been scheduled for UFC on Versus 1 in March of 2010.
Story is used to quick turnarounds between fights, having fought four times in 2010 alone, but this is still a very risky decision on his part.
The UFC tweeted the news on their official twitter account moments ago:
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Big change to Pittsburgh card - Anthony Johnson injured, @NathanMarquardt will now face @Rick_Story in the main event!less than a minute ago via web
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