UFC 142: 4 Fighters off Rio Card, Including Paulo Thiago

UFC 142 is less than a month away, and the promotion's third trip to Brazil has taken a serious hit by the injury bug, as four fighters have been removed from the card.

Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago (14-3) was forced out of his bout with Mike Pyle due to an elbow injury.

Tatame editor and MMA journalist Eduardo Ferreira reported the news via Twitter:

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"BREAKING: Paulo Thiago out of Rio's UFC 142 due to an elbow injury. Stanislav Nedkov out too, visa issues."

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Thiago fought on the previous Rio card at UFC 134, winning a unanimous decision over David Mitchell. Among the 14 Brazilian fighters on the card, Thiago was one of the most well-received and cheered on a card that featured UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Also off the card is Bulgarian-born fighter Stanislav Nedkov (12-0). Nedkov fought at the August event in Rio and stopped Luiz Cane in the first round. Nedkov was the only non-Brazilian fighter to emerge victorious on the card.

The UFC's twitter also released news that Siyar Bahadurzada and Rob Broughton were removed from the card as well.

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Brazil flu is sweeping the roster! UFC 142's Rob Broughton, Stanislav Nedkov and Siyar Bahadurzada all out due to injury; replacements TBD

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The pay-per-view event will feature a featherweight championship bout between UFC champion Jose Aldo defending his title against undefeated fighter Chad Mendes. Aldo will make his third defense of the UFC title and is coming off back-to-back victories in the UFC versus Kenny Florian and Mark Hominick.

In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort will take on Anthony Johnson. Belfort was last seen knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama while Johnson knocked out Charlie Brenneman. Johnson will be fighting at middleweight for the very first time.

Also on the card are Rousimar Palhares, Edson Barboza, Terry Etim and Erick Silva.