Thiago Alves has withdrawn from his rematch with
Jon Fitch that was scheduled for Saturday at UFC 111 due to a failed CAT scan, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports on Thursday.
Ben Saunders, who was set to fight
Jake Ellenberger in a main card bout, will replace Alves and fight Fitch, according to multiple reports.
"We didn't have enough time to get a second opinion, so we turned in the original MRI to the UFC on Monday, I think,” a representative from Alves’ camp, American Top Team, told Sherdog.com. “We found out today he wasn't going to be able to fight."
The American Top Team rep mentioned the possibility that Alves could be moved to UFC Fight Night 21, scheduled for Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., if a second opinion deems that Alves is OK. However, Alves’ coach,
Ricardo Liborio, has since stated that Alves fighting at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi is more likely.
"Wednesday is probably too early to get everything cleared up, so we are looking at getting on the Abu Dhabi card,” Liborio told Sherdog.com. "He trained so hard for this fight and really wanted to fight. He's going to keep training and he's going to keep his weight down. He's eating really clean, and he will be ready for Abu Dhabi."
This article was updated at 12:33 p.m. ET with information from American Top Team, at 12:48 p.m. with additional info from Ricardo Liborio and Fitch and at 1:07 p.m. with info that Saunders is the replacement.
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