MMA: GSP out of UFC 137, Surgery for Shane Carwin and the Week's Biggest News

It was a rough week for the world of mixed martial arts as a number of fighters suffered injuries and were forced out of upcoming bouts.

Most notably, UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre fell victim to a knee injury and is out of the UFC 137 main event against Carlos Condit.

Former UFC interim heavyweight champ Shane Carwin revealed that will be out until 2012 due to lower back surgery.

Additionally, a former winner of the The Ultimate Fighter has found a new promotion and a number of upcoming cards have undergone changes.

Georges St-Pierre Sprains Knee, out of UFC 137 Main Event

UFC 137 has a new main event after UFC President Dana White announced that welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was injured during training for his title defense against Carlos Condit.

St-Pierre suffered a sprained knee and is expected to be out of action until early 2012.  The news was confirmed by his trainer Firas Zahabi.

His opponent, Condit, is also off the card, as he will wait until St-Pierre is healthy before stepping into the Octagon again.

Replacing the fight as the top billing will be the co-main event between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz.

Source: Twitter

Shane Carwin Faces 2nd Surgery in 2 Years

Heavyweight slugger and former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin will be out until spring or summer of 2012 due to lower back surgery.  The Colorado-based fighter announced the news on his personal website.

Carwin used a 12-fight undefeated streak to propel himself into title contention, but fell to champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 116 in July of last year.  The heavy-handed fighter then underwent surgery to his neck before returning to face current No. 1 contender Junior dos Santos.  Carwin dropped a decision at UFC 131.

The fighter stated that he was preparing for a UFC 141 fight (rumored to be against Fabricio Werdum) when his back became a problem.  His options were to retire or undergo the surgery and continue his career.

Source: Shane Carwin

Bellator Signs Efrain Escudero, Debuts at Bellator 55

Despite winning the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter, lightweight Efrain Escudero was released from the UFC following a stretch where he went just 2-3.

Following the release, Escudero has gone 4-1 while competing on the regional circuit.  His recent performance led him to sign with Bellator.

The fighter will make his promotional debut at Bellator 55 on Oct. 22 from the Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Ariz.  He will face Cesar Avila, who also makes his Bellator debut at the event.

Source: MMAJunkie

Pedro Rizzo out of ProElite 2 Main Event, Replaced by Andreas Kraniotakes

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo is out of the ProElite 2 main event against former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia due to a torn triceps tendon.

The Brazilian revealed the injury on his Twitter account.  The injury was suffered during training in Holland.

Replacing the fighter will be German Andreas Kraniotakes.  The event takes place on Nov. 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill.

Source: Twitter

John Hathaway out of UFC 138, Opponent Matt Brown Moved to UFC 139

British welterweight John Hathaway has been bitten by the injury bug and is out of a planned UFC 138 bout with Matt Brown.  No word on when Hathaway will be back in action.

As a result, Brown will move to the UFC 139 card to take on TUF 11 alum Seth Baczynski instead.

UFC 139 takes place on Nov. 19 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Source: UFC

Danny Castillo Battles Shamar Bailey at UFC 139

A pair of lightweights both coming off losses will lock horns at UFC 139 as former WEC competitor Danny Castillo meets TUF 13 fighter Shamar Bailey.

Castillo dropped a unanimous decision to Jacob Volkmann in August, snapping a three-fight win streak.

Bailey was a quarterfinalist on The Ultimate Fighter and after winning his promotional debut, dropped from welterweight to take on Evan Dunham.  Bailey fell by decision.

The Nov. 19 event will be headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan Henderson.

Source: UFC

Thompson Injured, De Fries Debuts Against Broughton at UFC 138

The UFC 138 card has been reshaped yet again as promotional newcomer Oli Thompson has been taken off the card due to injury.

Replacing Thompson against Phil De Fries will be fellow Brit Rob Broughton.  Broughton is coming off a decision loss to Travis Browne at UFC 135 in September.

UFC 138 takes place on Nov. 5 at the LG Arena in Birmingham, England.  The main card will air in the US on Spike TV via tape delay.

Source: UFC

ProElite Signs Broadcast Deal with HDNet

The resurrected ProElite promotion has a new home: HDNet.

The promotion's second event, ProElite – Big Guns, will air live on Nov. 5 from the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill.  The event features former UFC title holders Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, as well as an eight-man heavyweight tournament.

Terms of the broadcasting deal include multiple fights over multiple years.

Source: ProElite

Zoila Frausto Gurgel Injured, out of Bellator 57

Bellator's 115-pound women's champ Zoila Frausto Gurgel has suffered a torn ACL in her knee and is out of Bellator 57.

The fighter announced the grim news on her personal Twitter account.

Gurgel was expected to face Brazilian Carina Damm at the Nov. 12 event, but the fighter will likely be out of action for a significant amount of time due to the severity of her injury.

Source: Twitter

Inside MMA Moves to Live Broadcast on Monday Nights

HDNet's weekly MMA news program, Inside MMA, has a new day and a change to its format.

The show previously aired via tape delay on Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET.  Now the show will air live on Monday nights in the same timeslot.

The show is hosted by former UFC heavyweight champ Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice and has aired over 200 episodes to date.

Source: Inside MMA

Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com.  For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter  @RobTatumMMA.