http://mmajunkie.com/news/29870/injuries-force-palhares-camozzi-from-ufc-150-roberts-now-faces-okami.mmaTraining injuries to a pair of fighters have forced some changes to next month's UFC 150 card in Denver.
Rousimar Palhares (14-3 MMA 7-3 UFC) had been scheduled to face Yushin Okami (26-7 MMA, 10-4 UFC) on the pay-per-view main card. But an injury to the Brazilian submission specialist has knocked him off the show, and Buddy Roberts (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has stepped up from a fight with Chris Camozzi (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who also now is out with an injury, to face Okami.
Brazilian website UOL Esporte first reported the Palhares removal from the card. UFC officials confirmed the news, as well as Camozzi's injury, early Wednesday.
UFC 150 takes place Aug. 11 at Pepsi Center in Denver. The main card airs on pay-per-view and features a lightweight title rematch between champion Benson Henderson and former champ Frankie Edgar. Prelims air on FX and stream on Facebook.
Palhares stepped in to fight Okami when Luiz Cane had to pull out with an injury. So Roberts now will be Okami's third opponent for the card. Palhares was looking to rebound from an upset loss to Alan Belcher at UFC on FOX 3 in May, but now he, too, is out.
"I was crazy to fight not 100 percent in shape," Palhares told UOL Esporte. "It would be a great fight for me, trying to win again. Every bout is the greatest of my career, but this time I can’t fight. When you don’t go well for a fight, as I did in my last, you pay for your mistake. The injury happened two weeks ago, but we tried to work and see if it would be possible to fight. Last Friday, though, I had to stop. I’m already recovering with physical therapy and I’ll undergo further exams to know if it needs surgery or not."
Okami will try to snap a two-fight losing skid that started with a middleweight title loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 134 nearly a year ago. He followed that up with what was a dominating performance against Tim Boetsch for two rounds at UFC 144 in Japan before Boetsch mounted a surprise comeback to stop Okami in the third round.
Roberts had just been booked for his fight with Camozzi earlier this month. The Greg Jackson-trained fighter made his UFC debut at UFC on FX 2, picking up a decision win over Caio Magalhaes. That win gave him six straight and 10 victories in his past 11 fights.
Camozzi, meanwhile, is bumped from a fight that would have taken place in front of his home fans. The Denver-area fighter picked up a TKO against Nick Catone at UFC on FX 4 in June, then lobbied to get on the Denver card.
The latest UFC 150 card now includes:
Champ Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar (for lightweight title)
Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard
Ed Herman vs. Jake Shields
Yushin Okami vs. Buddy Roberts
Jared Hamman vs. Michael Kuiper
Nik Lentz vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Justin Lawrence vs. Max Holloway
Dennis Bermudez vs. Tom Hayden
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