Thiago Alves Out of UFC 111; Jon Fitch to face Ben Saunders

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Thiago Silva will not be fighting Jon Fitch at UFC 111 this Saturday.

A CT scan showed an irregularity in the 26-year-old Brazillian's brain, and he was forced off of the main event card.

Upon hearing that Silva could not fight, Ben Saunders asked to fight the opponentless Fitch. The UFC agreed, according to MMAJunkie.com. Saunders was originally set to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 111. Ellenberger will receive his full purse - to show and to win.

Silva left the following messages on his Twitter account over the past two hours:

"To all my fans.. I'm sorry for this. The boxing commission can't clear me for sat. But once I see a specialist and he clear me ill be back!"

"Please guys positive energy positives thoughts. Say a prayer for me! Ill be back soon me Ufc and my camp are working on it! Osu!"

"Tonite we will know what to do better after meeting with the doctors. Thank u everyone for all the support guys. Ill keep everyone posted!"

A preliminary bout between Jersyite Kurt Pellegrino and Fabricio Camoes will be moved to the main card.

The UFC has a good track record for taking care of its fighters' injuries and medical bills, and White said they will provide Alves with a specialist. But White cautioned the former title challenger's injury "could be a career ender."

Based out of American Top Team, Alves, one of the welterweight division's most feared strikers, was seeking to avenge a 2006 TKO lost to Fitch. The 16-6 Alves's victims include Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck and Karo Parisyan. He was last in action at UFC 100, where he dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to welterweight champion George St. Pierre.

* Additional reporting by Natalia Baage