Veteran UFC heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga has been left without an opponent for UFC 153 after Geronimo “Mondragon” dos Santos had to pull out of their bout. Gonzaga last fought at UFC 142 where he notched a win over Ednaldo Oliveira in January. Prior to that he spent a year in exile after being cut by the UFC following a pair of 2010 losses to Brendan Schaub and Junior dos Santos. Gonzaga announced his retirement at the time but returned to regional MMA action, picked up a win in 2011 and returned to the big show.
Sherdog initially reported the news of dos Santos’ withdrawal last week. Today on Twitter, Tatame.com reporter Guilherme Cruz tweeted that dos Santos’ medical exams indicated hepatitis. What type of hepatitis dos Santos is infected with was not reported.
UPDATE: Cruz has tweeted that dos Santos has Hepatitis B. It’s unknown if he has the acute or chronic form of the disease.