Ian McCall Injured, Out of Fight with Brad Pickett in London

The flyweight division is in desperate need of title contenders and it looks as though Ian McCall has been pushed out of that race yet again.

"Uncle Creepy" was slated to face divisional newcomer Brad Pickett next month at Fight Night 37 in London, but was forced to pull out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. The announcement was made by UFC President Dana White during a media luncheon at the Zuffa offices on Thursday afternoon as reported by Mike Chiapetta at Fox Sports.

The 29-year-old's scratch from the Pickett fight makes this the second consecutive pairing McCall has been forced to withdraw from due to injury. He was originally slated to face another flyweight division newcomer Scott Jorgensen at UFC on Fox 9 last December, but an injury pushed him to the sidelines and he was replaced by Zach Makovsky.

This current run of injury comes at a time when the SoCal native was finally starting to pick up some momentum in the flyweight division. After coming into the UFC as a highly touted pick to win the inaugural flyweight tournament that kicked off in 2012, McCall failed to live up to the billing by going 0-2-1 in his first three showings under the UFC banner. He put the brakes on that skid by picking up a unanimous decision victory over Iliarde Santos at UFC 163 last August. 

The former Tachi Palace champion looked impressive in his victory over the Brazilian and put himself back into title contention with the win. Unfortunately for McCall, his inability to stay healthy has hampered his chance to make a run at the flyweight title, at a time when the list of possible contenders to Demetrious Johnson's crown is paper-thin. 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.