MMA Gumbo

Dana White has confirmed that Gabriel Gonzaga has had to pull out of UFC:108 due to a staph infection. Gonzaga was set to square off with Junior dos Santos on Jan 2nd in Las Vegas. While it is likely that Santos will remain on the card, a new opponent has not been named as of yet, though Velasquez seems to be the ideal choice given that he too lost his chance to fight due to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira also having to pull out due to a staph infection.

Gonzaga was coming in on a hot streak having won 3 of his previous 4 fights with none moving past the first round. He has amassed an 11-4 record with his most recent victory coming against Chris Tuchsherer at UFC 102 in August.

Santos still remains undefeated in the UFC and has an overall record of 9-1 with 7 of those coming by way of knock out. He records impressive wins over both CroCop and Werdum, and is hoping to build on his success in the UFC on his way to the title.

While Santos vs Gonzaga would have been a great match, and while a possible Santos vs Velasquez bout also carries the same ability to bring something great, one must wonder about all of the fighters that are having to pull out of bouts due to sudden illness and injury including UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. From the top down, the pickings for replacement fighters seems to keep getting ever so slim due to illness and injury, but Dana White seems hell bent on doing whatever it takes to keep the quality where it should be and the fans in the seats.

-Jason Sharp