Rory Macdonald Out of UFC 158 :( Also, 16 Fighters Released, Including One Big Name!

Well this is really unfortunate :( Rory apparently strained his neck/back and is out for 4 weeks. He was slated to rematch Carlos Condit, the only fighter to have bested the young Canadian prospect; a loss that has since fueled Macdonald's quest to never lose again on his quest to become the best welterweight on the planet. Condit will now face Johnny Hendricks, who was supposed to fight Jake Ellenberger on that same card. Ellenberger now currently finds himself sans opponent.

Hendricks vs Condit has potential but in no way is it as exciting a matchup as was Condit vs Macdonald (nor is it as exciting to me as was the Hendricks/Macdonald fight).

Hopefully Rory is okay and we can see him rematch Condit at a later date.

Source:
http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/2/18/4002778/rory-macdonald-forced-to-withdraw-from-ufc-158-due-to-injury

In other news, a slew of fighters (16, to be exact) have been released by the UFC. Jacob Volkmann was one of them, which of course will be no surprise to anyone, as the UFC brass disliked him from the start, and he certainly did not do himself any favours with his in the Octagon performances nor his outside of the ring comments. The hige shocker, however, is that Jon Fitch was among the 16 fighters let go! It looks like the UFC is really starting to cave to the lesser educated of the supposed mma "fans" (the ones who boo anything that's not unrestrained punching exchanges) although his contract dispute last year probably didn't help.

Source:
http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/2/20/4009518/jon-fitch-among-16-fighters-released-from-ufc-on-tuesday