Tatame is reporting that UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado is out of Saturday’s UFC 142 in Rio, Brazil, due to a rib injury. Maldonado was scheduled to face Caio Magalhaes on the undercard, himself an injury replacement for original Maldonado opponent Stanislav Nedkov.
The UFC confirmed the news Sunday afternoon and will not look for a last-minute replacement for Magalhaes, cutting down the number of fights on the card to 10.
The Rio event has been plagued with injuries as this is the fifth time a bout has been affected by someone getting hurt. The 31-year-old Maldonado was looking to rebound from a decision loss to Kyle Kingsbury in June that evened his Octagon record to 1-1. Before the defeat, he had won 11 straight.
Saturday’s pay-per-view is headlined by Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes with Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson, Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio, Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater and Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim on the main card. This will be the UFC’s first event in Brazil since their much-ballyhooed return in August 2011.