Former Shooto world 132-pound champion Ryota Matsune (Pictures) has been forced to withdraw from his July 15 title confrontation with Akitoshi Hokazono (Pictures), Sherdog.com has learned.

In preparation for his bout with the current champion Hokazono, Shooto officials revealed that the Paraestra Matsudo competitor sustained a partial tear of his right bicep, but planned to continue training and follow through with the fight. However, Matsune sustained further injury in training after suffering a broken left rib.

After consulting with his physician, Matsune has pulled out of the bout with Hokazono, which would have given him the opportunity to become the first fighter in pro Shooto history to reign twice in one weight division. Because of the bout's stature as a Shooto world championship fight, and the show date being less than two weeks away, Shooto authorities will not install another title challenger, leading event promoter Sustain to cancel the fight.

The 25-year-old Matsune has a history of high profile injury. After becoming the third world featherweight champion of professional Shooto by defeating Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) in Aug. 2003, Matsune spent all of 2005 on the shelf due to a knee injury, which eventually forced him to vacate the title in Feb. 2006. Hokazono, who emerged as the top contender to Matsune's title, then won the vacant championship against Kenji Osawa (Pictures) last July.

Shooto officials have not disclosed whether or not the bout will be rescheduled for later this year when Matsune has recovered, or whether Hokazono will make his mandatory title defense against another competitor high in the Shooto world rankings, such as second-ranked "Louro" Marcos Galvao (Pictures) or third-ranked Koetsu Okazaki (Pictures).

Sustain is now offering ticket refunds to customers due to the subtraction of the bout. In its place, the Shooto world 183-pound title bout between champion Shikou Yamashita (Pictures) and Dutch challenger Siyar Bahadurzada will fill the main event slot.