Injured Ruediger Withdraws from UFC 123

A groin injury has forced Gabe Ruediger to withdraw from his preliminary matchup with Paul Kelly at UFC 123 “Rampage vs. Machida” on Nov. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. The 33-year-old announced the move via his personal Web site.

“I’ve been training with injuries for this whole camp, and I’ve been trying to just work around them,” Ruediger wrote. “One injury that has been giving me daily issues was a groin strain. This happened about three weeks ago [while I was] wrestling. I was wrapping it and just enduring the pain, but Wednesday, I was back to wrestling, and my groin tore all the way through. As I laid on the mat, I knew it was bad, but it wasn’t until Friday that I realized that it would be impossible to be ready for my upcoming bout.”

Winless in two appearances inside the Octagon, Ruediger submitted to an armbar from “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 semi-finalist Joe Lauzon at UFC 118 in August. The defeat snapped a six-fighting winning streak for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. No replacement has been named for Ruediger, who once held the World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight championship.

“Leading up to this injury, I was training very hard and felt very confident that I would be well prepared for my bout against a tough Paul Kelly,” Ruediger wrote. “I was motivated to come out and have a great performance after my last lackluster one. The fact that the UFC gave me another chance was appreciated, and I wanted to make the most of it. Now, I will just rest, deal with the frustration and disappointment, heal up and get back to work. I’m hoping with proper rehab to be back as soon as possible.”