The Jon Fitch vs. Ricardo Almeida matchup has been scrapped for the UFC 106 event that was to take place on November 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fitch posted details on numerous social networking sites late Wednesday night including this message from his personal Facebook account, "My fight on Nov. 21st is off, Almeida blew out his knee, but I get a bigger better fight instead. Can't say who yet, but lots of you have been waiting for this fight a long time."
I have been in contact with Jon Fitch regarding this matter and he has confirmed the fight is not only off, but that he is off the UFC 106 card altogether.
He would not comment as to who his new opponent would be, but he did reveal that it would not be either of his fellow American Kickboxing Academy teammates Mike Swick or Josh Koscheck.
Matt Hughes would be the logical replacement as he is currently one of the very few welterweight contenders with no upcoming fight scheduled.
Fitch desperately needs a man with the reputation and mainstream appeal of a Hughes on his resume if he wants to be granted another title shot in the foreseeable future.
A win over a prominent name like Hughes would most certainly propel him on the verge of a rematch with current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, whom he lost via unanimous decision to in his first bid to become champion in a grueling five round battle back at UFC 87 in August 2008.
Thiago Alves is also a secondary option if the UFC decides the want to scrap his tentatively scheduled UFC 107 fight against Paulo Thiago.
An Alves/Fitch matchup would be a rematch of their June 28, 2006 fight at Ultimate Fight Night 5, where Fitch scored a second round TKO.
Who will the UFC decide to pair opposite Fitch? Let the debate begin.
Stay tuned as this story continues to develop.
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This story was originally reported by Derek Bolender on MMAmania.com (http://mmamania.com/2009/10/21/ricardo-almeida-injured-fight-against-jon-fitch-canceled-for-nov-21/ )
Derek Bolender is a frequent contributor to CBSSports.com, FoxSports.com, MMAmania.com, InsideFights.com, as well as BleacherReport.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DerekMMAWriter and at Facebook.com/Derek.Bolender.
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