UFC 108: Staph Infection Forces Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Out Of Main Event

MMA Junkie broke the news that the UFC 108 main event between Shane Carwin and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is off:

A planned UFC 108 bout between heavyweight contenders Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Cain Velasquez (7-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has been called off due to a severe staph infection currently affecting "Big Nog."

UFC president Dana White revealed the news following Saturday's UFC 105 post-event press conference to a small group of reporters.

"[Nogueira] got staph infection, bad, to the point now it's in his bloodstream, and he's probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics," White said.

Clearly this is not one of the best periods in the UFC's history.  They've put on their biggest events over the past year and they are drawing great numbers on pay-per-view but they are having trouble putting together main events and are seeing several top stars go down to injury and illness.  Earlier we talked about Brock Lesnar's illness keeping him out of action and now Nogueira is out as well.  The two fighters are the top ranked UFC heavyweights and having them out of action for any length of time hurts the division badly.

Mike Fagan of BloodyElbow.com expands on this point:

Suffice to say, this is a gigantic step back for the UFC's heavyweight division.  Every time the division starts to pick up (signing Mirko Cro Cop, Randy Couture beating Tim Sylvia), it seems to come crashing down (Gabriel Gonzaga head kicks Cro Cop into mediocrity, Couture leaves the company).  Now, when the company found a cash cow to lead the division, they're left in shambles.  Couture's moved down to 205.  Lesnar may never fight again.  Nogueira will now have to deal with recovering from the effects of a draining infection.

White confirmed that Shane Carwin underwent minor knee surgery and says that he is unavailable for UFC 108 now so the promotion is now scrambling to find a main event for the card.