Leonard Garcia pulls out of TUF 12 finale
The inauguration of the featherweight (145lb) division into the Ultimate Fighting Championships isn’t going so smoothly after all.
Almost immediately after the first ever featherweight championships fight was nixed from UFC 125 because Jose Aldo injured himself, mixed martial artist Leonard Garcia has pulled out of the first ever scheduled
featherweight bout in the promotion, a fight with Tyler Toner at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter season 12, set to air on Spike TV on 4 December.
The news was first reported by Sherdog.com, and then subsequently confirmed by mmajunkie.com, but neither media outlet reported the nature of the injury. Sherdog.com also reported that a new opponent for
Toner has been found on short notice, as Ian “The Barn Owl” Loveland, a fighter with a 13-7 professional record, will step up to fight. The fight will happen on the preliminary card of the event, which is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between Stephan
Bonnar and Igor Pokrajac.
While fans may be glad the fight wasn’t nixed altogether and Toner was round a new opponent, the UFC will be disappointed over the loss of Garcia, who seemed like the perfect opponent to introduce fans to
the new, lighter weight class. Garcia was not known for his technical acumen, but rather his willingness to engage in all-out slugfests with his opponents. His fight with the “Korean Zombie”, Chan Sung Jung at the Aldo vs. Faber event was immediately considered
by most fans to be one of the most entertaining mixed martial arts fights of all time, with Garcia escaping with a very controversial split decision.
Toner is 10-2 with one no-contest, and fought two fights in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, going 1-1, recently falling by decision to Diego Nunes on 30 September.
The addition of the UFC featherweight and bantamweight (135lb) divisions comes with the dissolution of the WEC and the incorporation of their fighters and weight divisions into the UFC. Both were owned by
the same company, Zuffa, which allowed for the merger.
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