Chris Weidman’s Rib Injury Transforms Ronda Rousey-Cat Zingano Bout Into UFC 184's Lone Main Event

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will find out if women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is bankable enough to headline a pay-per-view event in UFC 184. The development occurs after middleweight champion is a no-go for the title fight against Vitor Belfort after suffering a broken rib during training.

This will be the third time that the match-up of Belfort and Weidman has been cancelled and with the timetable of recovery of Weidman being unclear, there is no assurance that the bout will ever push through. Belfort was supposed to challenge the American champion last May but pulled out after drug testing complications arose against the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

After the Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter settled the testosterone-filled therapy accusations with the NSAC, the pair was supposed to slug it out last December but was again held back after the champion was found out to be fighting with a broken arm. The Feb. 28 match at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California should have settled the score between the two fighters but again, an injury to Weidman prevents them to do so.

The development will now transform UFC 184 into women’s event with Rousey and Zingano being the lone main event of the night. Rousey will be testing her drawing power in her hometown of Los Angeles against the number one contender in Zingano. Both women fighters were supposed to meet a year ago after serving as judges at The Ultimate Fighter television show but Zingano tore her ACL which sidelined her for a year.

Aside from the bantamweight title fight, UFC President Dana White also moved the debut of Holly Holm against Raquel Pennington as one of the main preliminary fights of the night. The former boxing champion will finally strut her wares in the Octagon as is reportedly being groomed as a future match for queen bee Rousey.

The UFC has not announced if it will put an interim title in the future given the uncertainty of the return of the middleweight champion. Belfort who last fought and won via knockout over Dan Henderson in November 2013 has not been given a replacement opponent.

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