MMA News: Georges St-Pierre Out, TUF 15 Coaches, UFC on Fox 2 and Flyweights

For the second time in recent months, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been forced out of a scheduled title defense due to knee injury. This time, however, the injury will require surgery to repair a torn ACL and force the Canadian out of action for up to 10 months.

The first season of The Ultimate Fighter to appear on the FX network has its coaches set, bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and current No. 1 contender Urijah Faber.

Chicago's UFC on Fox 2 card has begun to fill out, as multiple bouts have been added to the January 28 event.  Most notably, Chael Sonnen will take on Mark Munoz for the next shot at champ Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping will lock horns with Brazilian Demian Maia.

UFC President Dana White also announced this week that the promotion will be adding a 125-pound flyweight division in the near future.

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.

Georges St-Pierre out of UFC 143 with Torn ACL; Diaz Now Meets Condit

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is out of a scheduled title fight against No. 1 contender Nick Diaz at UFC 143. The Canadian was forced out of the Super-Bowl-weekend event due to a torn ACL, with the fighter expected to  be out for approximately 10 months.

With the news, the UFC has announced that the new main event will be Nick Diaz taking on Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title.

UFC 143 will take place on February 4 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The Ultimate Fighter 15 Coaches Revealed

The coaches for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter will be bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and No. 1 contender Urijah Faber. 

Cruz and Faber have split a pair of title bouts in recent years, with Faber successfully defending his WEC featherweight title in their first meeting and Cruz retaining the UFC bantamweight title in July at UFC 132.

The Ultimate Fighter 15 will debut with a live two-hour episode on Friday, March 9 on FX.

Sonnen-Munoz, Bisping-Maia and UFC on Fox 2 Updates

UFC officials have announced a number of fights for the January 28 UFC on Fox 2 card, including another title-eliminator bout.

Middleweights Mark Munoz and Chael Sonnen will face off, with the winner moving on to face champion Anderson Silva.

Fresh off his recent victory over Jason Miller, British middleweight Michael Bisping will quickly return to action against Brazilian Demian Maia. The fight will be one of three fights that will take place on the main card to be aired live on Fox.

Also in the 185-pound division, TUF alum Chris Camozzi squares off with Dustin Jacoby.

Featherweights Cub Swanson and George Roop are slated for the night's preliminary card.

A pair of former lightweights will both make the cut to 145 pounds, as Charles Oliveira will welcome Eric Wisely to the Octagon.

UFC on Fox 2 takes place January 28 at the United Center in Chicago, and will feature a light heavyweight No. 1 contender bout between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.

UFC Set To Add 125-Pound Flyweight Division

UFC President Dana White has revealed that the UFC will, in fact, add the long-rumored 125-pound flyweight division in the near future.

The division will be the eighth different weight class for the promotion. The official announcement is expected to come within a matter of days. 

A number of current bantamweight fighters could potentially make the cut to the lighter division, including Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson and TUF 14 winner John Dodson.

Additionally, a number of competitors in the California-based Tachi Palace Fights promotion have expressed interest in joining the promotion, including Ulysses Gomez, Ian McCall and Darrell Montague.

UFC 141 Fight Card Updates

A pair of lightweight matchups at UFC 141 have changed following injuries to both Ramsey Nijem and T.J. Grant.

The Ultimate Fighter 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem was scheduled to take on Anthony Njokuani, but an injury suffered during training has forced him out of the matchup. In his place will be Team Alpha Male fighter Danny Castillo.

Efrain Escudero, winner of season eight of The Ultimate Fighter, will make his return to the promotion, replacing the injured T.J. Grant and facing Jacob Volkmann.

UFC 141 will take place on December 30 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is headlined by a heavyweight bout between former UFC champ Brock Lesnar and former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem.

UFC on FX 1 Fight Card Updates

The first UFC card to take place on FX has two new fights: Welterweights Charlie Brenneman and Daniel Roberts will square off, while bantamweight Joseph Sandoval will welcome Nick Denis to the promotion.

UFC on FX 1 is slated for the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on January 20. The event is headlined by a lightweight bout between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard. 

Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold To Face Keith Jardine

Strikeforce will start the new year off with a middleweight-title bout between newly crowned champion Luke Rockhold and UFC veteran Keith Jardine. The event will take place from The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 7.

Also featured on the card will be former EliteXC champ Robbie Lawler facing rising contender Adlan Amagov in a middleweight bout and former champ “King” Mo Lawal against undefeated Lorenz Larkin in a light-heavyweight bout.

Finally, Tarec Saffiedine and Tyler Stinson will square off in a welterweight bout.

Strikeforce To Remain on Showtime

UFC President Dana White confirmed that Strikeforce is here to stay, announcing that Strikeforce has signed a deal with pay-per-view provider Showtime.

“That deal should be wrapped up any day now and then I’ll make the decisions on who goes where and what’s gonna happen,” White said during the UFC 140 press conference.

Bellator’s Sixth Season Moves to Friday Nights

Following the completion of its fifth season, Bellator Fighting Championships has announced that its sixth season will begin on Friday, March 2. The event will mark the first time the promotion has aired on Friday nights.

The sixth season will feature five tournaments, including featherweights, lightweights, welterweights and middleweights.

A fifth and final weight division will be announced soon.

Former Champ Miguel Torres Released from the UFC Following Inappropriate Tweet

UFC bantamweight Miguel Torres has been released from the promotion following a tweet about a “rape van.”

The former WEC champion posted a tweet that read: “If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone like surprises.”

UFC President Dana White announced the released in an interview:

"

I cut him today. He’s no longer with the UFC.  I cannot defend Miguel Torres. I cannot defend what he said. What he said makes no sense other than when he says, “It was a joke.” Well, I don’t think that’s a funny joke. I think it’s disturbing.

"