Sources: Marcus Hicks Off WSOF 21 card; Matt Baker Now to Face Thiago Goncalves

Middleweight contender Marcus Hicks is officially off of Friday’s World Series of Fighting 21 card, Sherdog.com has learned from a WSOF source.

Hicks’ original opponent, Matt Baker, will now face a familiar face in Thiago Goncalves.

Hicks had been trying to drop down to 185 pounds for the clash, but “The Loudmouth Assassin” struggled mightily to hit the mark. After he was examined by the medical staff on-hand before he was to step on the scale, he was deemed “medically/physically ineligible to compete.”

In Goncalves, Baker will be locking horns with a teammate who was there to corner him, and hasn’t fought in over a year and is coming off a decision loss to Akihiro Murayama on the Pancrase 257 card. “Jambo” had won five straight before losing to the Japanese fighter. Fortunately for the WSOF, the Brazilian was able to step up at the last minute to fill in for Hicks.

Aside from a “No Decision” against Ali Mokdad when they accidentally clashed heads at WSOF 18, Baker had won two consecutive battles. He submitted Cody Krahn via first-round armbar at WSOF 14 and most recently knocked out Ariel Gandulla in the second round as part of the Battlefield Fight League 35 event.