Hermes Franca pulled out of his Feb. 7 fight with Joe Lauzon due to a knee injury. The fight was to headline a UFC Fight Night card on Spike TV from Tampa, Fla. Jeremy Stephens, who was set to face Efrain Escudero in April, will now face Lauzon. The Feb. 7 card also lost the debut of “The Ultimate Fighter 7” champion Amir Sadollah, who was forced to pull out of a fight with Nick Catone due to injury for the second time.
Meanwhile, days after hyping the fight on its Jan. 25 television event, World Extreme Cagefighting announced that welterweight champion Carlos Condit pulled out of his March 1 defense against Brock Larson in Corpus Christi, Texas. Condit suffered a sprained right wrist in training. The WEC website claims a replacement bout is being worked on. Several reports, including an initial one from fiveouncesofpain.com, indicated Condit is now going to the UFC and will debut against Martin Kampmann on an Ultimate Fight Night in April. Reports also indicated that the WEC welterweight division is being scrapped altogether.
The Palace Fighting Championships also lost its top bout this week when former WWE pro wrestling star Bobby Lashley pulled out of a Feb. 6 fight against Mike Hayes, which was atop a hybrid MMA/boxing card entitled "Best of Both Worlds." Lashley suffered an ankle injury in training, according to MMAJunkie.com. The PFC released a revised card this week that showed Hayes facing Ron Sparks, of Kentucky, in a heavyweight fight.